CUSTOMERS at Seymour Resource and Recovery Centre’s Reviva Reuse Shop were thrilled with the pricing on its opening day last Saturday.
Mitchell Shire Council partnered with Resource Recovery Australia, a national not-for-profit social enterprise and charity, to launch the first Reviva Reuse shops in Victoria.
Over the past three years at Seymour Resource and Recovery Centre, staff members have been saving quality items from a deadend life in landfill. These include vintage telephones, books and furniture.
Deputy General Manager of Resource Recovery Australia Ally Glendenning said: “We are stoked to be in Victoria. We have had good feedback today. Customers cannot believe how much has been saved from landfill.”
Resource Recovery Area Manager for Mitchell Shire Council Kelly Hebard said there was a silent auction of donated vintage juke box, and an Ag motor bike.
Bigger items sold on the first day of trading included furniture and a quad bike.
Mitchell Shire residents Greg and Kylie Rogers were delighted with their purchases – a wooden cabinet with a glass door ($30), a book ($2), a toy gun ($4) and a vintage hand-held mower for $10.
“I’ll replace the wheel (I have one at home) and I’ll get it into use,” Mr Rogers said.
Wallan store manager Matthew Macey has worked in retail for 25 years.
“I’m 45 now, I started in retail when I was 20. Straight out of high school into Big W as a night shelf filler.”
His favourite items in the store are the golf clubs. “I play a bit of golf,” he said.
Other items for sale include metal cabinets, tennis racquets, bikes, wheelbarrows and snow skies.
Richard Cooper and friend Matthew Deacon were the first shoppers to make a purchase at its opening on Saturday.
“I thought the prices were a little high,” Mr Deacon said.
“It’s our opinion anyway.”
The tinkerers restore lawn mowers as a hobby and “a little bit of cash”.
On the purchase of a Rover lawn mower complete with a catcher and self-propelled mowing function, Mr Cooper said: “All it needs is a clean and a run. I like to get to the bottom of why it is not working. I will get my money back [$50].”
The Reviva shops are open Thursday to Sunday from 10 to 4pm.