The new Saint Vincent De Paul Society shop opened its doors on Monday morning.

The ‘flagship’ store at the Station House Roundabout has much needed extra space and will complement the store at Lower Main Street which will remain open.

Cormac McCormack, Letterkenny Area President, said the first day went exceptionally well and he extended his thanks to everyone who supported the opening. There was a lengthy queue before the opening.

“We put a lot of work into getting the shop open and it is great to finally have it up and running. We are really seizing an opportunity to be a part of the growth of charity shops in Ireland at the minute and this store is also one of the only retail shops to open in Letterkenny in the past three years.

“We have created a flagship store and it is probably the best store in Ireland.

SVP has invested in fixtures and fittings and changed the lighting to LED to minimise its carbon footprint.

The shop primarily provides clothes, shoes, household goods, bed clothes and small pieces of furniture that are in good enough condition to sell at low prices.

A new point of sale system has been installed which will give staff feedback on what products are popular and what are not. If donated items are not suitable for re-sale, they will be recycled  – a landfill company pays the charity for the products.

Mr McCormack explained that the income generated by the shop is used in Letterkenny and goes towards helping families in need.

“We are always looking for new volunteers to join the team,” he added.

“We have an exceptional team of volunteers and on Monday they were under severe pressure at times but they handled it really well. Without the help of the team, both shops would not be such a success,” said Mr McCormack.

Items on sale in the stores are posted on the Saint Vincent De Paul Facebook page and anyone wishing to volunteer can call into the shops or contact the Facebook pages.