Severn Hospice thanks community as Shrewsbury furniture store set to close
Customers, supporters and volunteers of a charity furniture store have been thanked for a decade's loyalty as Severn Hospice announces it is to close the shop for the final time.
The Furniture Store on Shrewsbury's Ennerdale Road has raised more than £500,000 for hospice patient care since it opened, but increased running costs meant the value of that contribution was beginning to drop.
Tracie Harrison, Severn Hospice Director of Income Generation, said: "We are so grateful to the community for the wonderful support it has given our Furniture Store in the past ten years.
"Collectively, our shops generate more than £1.5 million for our caring services and are vital to our financial planning and security. In securing that valuable contribution, we also have to balance the cost of generating it in the first place.
"The decision to not renew our lease and to close the shop has not been made lightly and follows many hours of behind-the-scenes number-crunching and looking at options. In the end, we have had to make a choice on commercial grounds.
"We have had so many loyal and supportive customers and donors and I absolutely don't want any of them to feel that they have let us down in any way, because they haven't.
"The shop was our first large-format store and while it has always contributed to our care, the cost of running the shop has seen the value of that contribution reduce significantly over time as it faced a number of unique challenges.
"The footfall we had once seen has not been maintained as our trading estate neighbours changed.
"Donations have changed over time too, possibly because people are hanging on to things for longer as paying for new replacements is becoming increasingly expensive – or they could be selling things privately.
"The other side of this coin – more people looking for a bargain to make their cash go further – was not seen in the shop's bottom line, disappointingly. So, while sales volumes had increased the average price per item was decreasing.
"It has always been a challenge to make collections, deliveries and house clearances work commercially and we wanted to avoid getting to the point where rising costs meant the cost of collection could exceed the sale price of the items," she said.
Affected staff and volunteers have been informed and are being offered alternative options within the hospice.
The shop will remain open and trading between now and the end of April, when the shutters will come down for the final time. Donations of quality furniture and electrical items will continue to be accepted until Friday 19 March.
