A Time to Discover
The American Cancer Society’s Discover Shop…
The American Cancer Society’s Discovery Shops support the fight against cancer through the sale of high-quality, new and gently used merchandise donated by the community. Redding store Manager Debbie O’Connor shares with Enjoy readers some exciting changes.
ENJOY: The store was closed for much of last year but re-opened in February in a new location. What was happening during the transitional time?
DEBBIE: Our former shop on Churn Creek closed due to the sale of the shopping center. This afforded us the opportunity to choose a new location, and we were excited and fortunate to find the available building on Hartnell, the site of the former Home Consignment store. During the transition time between locations, we worked with the City of Redding and our contractors to plan our new shop. Since the new space was an empty shell, we were able to plan everything from scratch. We believe we’ve created a wonderful space for our volunteers, customers and donors to support the American Cancer Society. It’s the perfect size and highly visible to drive-by traffic. Our new shop is 7,000 square feet, 2,000 square feet smaller than our former shop. The colors and fixtures are updated, fresh and hopefully provide our customers with a nice shopping experience.
ENJOY: One big change is the superior access to the receiving area for those who just want to drive up and drop off their donation. What prompted these changes, and how are they working out?
DEBBIE: The changes to the donation area were designed due to the layout of the building and the parking lot. We wanted our donors to have access to our building and make the donation experience easy, fast and enjoyable. So far, the new location is working out great.
ENJOY: I know volunteers play an important role. What opportunities exist for someone interested in volunteering with the Discovery Shop?
DEBBIE: Volunteers are critical to the Discovery Shop’s success. They receive, sort and price donations (as well as research the value of items), provide customer service, cashier, help with visual displays and more. Our volunteers helped us set up the new space before we re-opened to the public in February. As a volunteer, you help us raise funds for cancer research and free patient services. You are helping to save lives!
ENJOY: What else would you like people to know about The Discovery Shop, v. 2.0?
DEBBIE: We rely on donations from the community to raise funds for cancer research, free patient services, education and advocacy. Every purchase in our Discovery Shop helps in the fight against cancer. We are very excited about our new location and are here to serve the community of Redding. •
Discovery Shops • 1313 Hartnell Ave., Redding • (530) 221-3970 www.cancer.org • Cancer hotline: (800) 227-2345
Article Written by:
Claudia Mosby is a Redding-based freelance writer. She is the founder and director of The Expressive Spirit, a wellness company in Mt. Shasta offering spiritual direction, arts and nature-based activities and consultancy for grief and loss.
