'Penny-wise' St Mary's students set up thrifty second hand shop
Setting up shop: from left, back: Laura Murphy, Marie O'Hanlon, Danielle Holland, Ciara O'Callaghan, Allie MacDermott, Stacey O'Shea; Front: Naomi Flynn, Niamh Murphy and Chloe O'Shea; student involved in the project but missing from photo: Rebecca...
Thursday March 04 2010
GIRLS at a Mallow secondary school have set up a bargain clothes shop in a bid to tackle financial pressures among families in the area. Twelve students are set to launch 'Pennywise' which will specialise in teenager's clothes, on March 10 at Mallow Youth Centre.
The shop has been set up as part of a Young Social Innovator (YSI) project with hundreds of items of new and nearly new clothes already donated.
YSI co-ordinator Claire O'Farrell said that because many girls at St Mary's Secondary School are finding that their families have less money to spend the shop was seen as an innovative way to reduce costs.
The shop will stock a wide range of clothes and jewellery donated by students with many items still having the price tags on.
Although the initiative was met by some resistance from students at the start, the shop has now got a huge amount of support.
The shop will be officially opened by Sinead Sheppard, a former member of pop group Six on March 10.
Trading hours for the shop will be Friday evenings 3-7pm. The girls are currently setting up a website and they plan to keep a database of customers and then send them on monthly promotions and discounts. It is planned to keep the shop open even when the YSI project comes to a end.
Meanwhile, MABS is going to visit the girls at St Mary's later this month to assist them with setting up a spending diary.
- LOUISE MCCARTHY LMCCARTHY@CORKMAN.IE
