Waipawa’s Op Shop: 45 years of recycling

Waipawa Op Shop has been recycling the community’s housewares and clothing for 45 years.

From fashion labels with price tags still attached to holey socks and dirty underwear, nothing surprises the sorters at the Waipawa Op Shop any more.

This year the Waipawa Op Shop has ticked over 45 years in the business of recycling clothing and funds throughout the Tamatea Central Hawke’s Bay community.

Thought to be the first Op Shop in Hawke’s Bay, the venture was started in June 1979 by a group of women from the Waipawa Co-operating Parish, who wanted to help the community as well as raise funds for St John’s Church.

The minutes from the first meeting name the women as D Rose, R Godsiff, C Lutherall and R Arnold.

They negotiated to rent the old library premises in the CHB Municipal Theatre and they borrowed a heater, three stack-up chairs, a blackboard and “numerous coathangers” from the church, and a mirror from Robin Arnold.

Christmas spirit and specials on offer at the Waipawa Op Shop.

Their first source of donated clothing was “our own wardrobes”, says Bev Prentice, who joined the group shortly after the shop was opened.

“We went through and had a good cleanout, then we asked other church members to do the same.”

Before long they had a well-stocked Op Shop, open two days a month, with a trickle of customers.

“People didn’t quite know what it was about, to begin with.

“We charged very, very little. If we made $35 for the day we thought we were doing well.”

You can’t get a better bargain than ... free.

The biggest challenge the Op Shop faced in the early days was finding a suitable location. They were shifted from the old library to the Herald Tribune building, Byers Garage, The Lounge Tearooms - which leaked - and more. About nine moves before they landed in Centrecourt, Waipawa.

Bev says: “When we were in the Byers building there was no toilet. I wrote to the CHB District Council across the road to ask if we could use their toilets.”

Bev wrote in verse, assuring the council that the ladies were desperate.

The reply from the council came back, also in verse: “Because we understand your predicament of working under pressure, we are happy to advise that you may use our loo with pleasure.”

Business picked up throughout the 80s, as did donations, to the extent that there was a problem with what to do with the clothing that was unwearable.

Volunteer Janet Smith says “We used to take fadges of worn out clothes to ‘the rag man’ Clive, where they were purchased by weight; 5c a kilo for wool and synthetics, 35c a kilo for cotton. Now we give them away and they are put through a flocking machine.”

Donations are stacked to the roof.

When CHB welcomed its first RSE workers the Waipawa Op Shop stepped up.

Janet says: “We opened one evening a week so they could shop after work. With the language issues and the men buying women’s clothes - including bras - to send home to their families there were some funny moments.”

Those volunteering have seen huge changes in buying patterns.

“When we started, bought clothing was expensive so many of us knitted and sewed, and the children wore hand-me-downs. The Op Shop was a great source of fabrics,” Janet says.

“Now, clothing can be bought cheaply and we have so much donated that we have boxes stacked to the roof.

“Some things still have the price tags on. It’s so easy to shop online, and the clothes are so cheap people don’t bother to return them if they don’t fit - they just donate them. People got into the habit of buying online during Covid and they just haven’t stopped.”

Along with the clean, washed clothing and the still-tagged purchases, however, is the downside.

Holey single socks and dirty underwear still turn up in clothing bags, horrifying the unwary clothing-sorter.

The Waipawa shop has even turned into a destination, with shoppers coming from Napier to peruse the racks.

Organised chaos - the hard work starts here at the sorting table at the Waipawa Op Shop.

“It’s accepted now, it’s even trendy. It’s great to see teens and young people get excited about finding something retro and different.”

While a percentage of the shop’s profits still go to St John’s Church, the rest gets distributed to local agencies, such as the HB Rescue Helicopter, CHB Foodbank, Waipukurau Blue Light, Epic Ministries, CHB Cancer Support, and Pregnancy Help CHB.

Bev Prentice says: “While other businesses have come and gone, it looks like the Waipawa Op Shop is here to stay. It’s serving a need, and I thoroughly enjoyed volunteering there. I’m proud to have been a part of it.”