St. Vincent de Paul Society opens second Vinnies store in Kingston

After offering support and services to the Kingborough community for over 45 years, the St. Vincent de Paul Society has opened a second, new and improved, Vinnies store in Kingston. The new Vinnies store is located in the high profile old Video City store location at 25 Westside Circle, Kingston. The store will officially open its doors on Thursday September 5, 2019 at 10.30am to regular and new customers.

Proceeds from the new Vinnies Kingston store will be used to continue funding the Society’s many outreach and charitable activities within the Kingborough community and across southern Tasmania.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society’s CEO, Mrs Lara Alexander, said that the new Kingston Vinnies retail outlet will have more floor space, filled with a wide range of pre-loved clothing, homewares, manchester, furniture, books, footwear, and accessories.

“Vinnies’ new Kingston store will be one of the first in southern Tasmania to open at a bigger and better location, or refurbished to improve the customer experience. Revenues will be used to support the St. Vincent de Paul Society and our social outreach programmes,” Mrs Alexander said.

“At any one time, Vinnies’ Kingston stores will stock over 7,000 items of clothing alone. That’s 7,000 pieces of clothing that have been sorted, modestly priced, and prepared for sale. This also represents 7,000 pieces of clothing we have diverted from landfill, which helps the environment as well as people and families in need.

“St. Vincent de Paul Society’s commitment to new or refurbished stores throughout Tasmania follows an international trend towards purchasing pre-loved clothing.

“According to a 2019 report by GlobalData, here is a world-wide boom in the resale apparel and second-hand goods market. The report reveals that the market is currently worth $24 billion per annum; with expected growth to $51 billion by 2024. A staggering 56 million women purchased pre-loved clothing or second-hand products in 2018, an increase of 12 million new consumers over the previous year.

“Researchers found that the re-sale customer is no longer a niche group, it’s everyone; and that 51 per cent of re-sale shoppers plan to spend even more on pre-loved and second-hand goods in the next five years. The increase is, in part, due to Millennials and Gen Z; who are 2.5 times more likely to purchase pre-loved items. Vintage is in vogue. These are some of the reasons the Society embarked upon a complete overhaul of its retail offering. The added advantage of purchasing from a Vinnies Superstore is that all profits go to a very worthy cause.

“We are currently looking for people to join our fabulous team of committed volunteers, who have been working non-stop to bring Vinnies new store to life. The 7,000 items across the Kingston Vinnies store will give locals and visitors an amazing opportunities to pick up a bargain, and dress the whole family from top to toe; knowing their purchase will helps clothe, feed, and provide shelter to those in need,” Mrs Alexander said.

The new Kingston Vinnies store is located at 25 Westside Circle, Kingston. The store will be open to the public from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.