Hospice to shut furniture store over running costs

A hospice is to close a 10-year-old furniture store due to increased running costs.

Severn Hospice said its store on Ennerdale Road, Shrewsbury, had raised more than £500,000 since it opened, but the "value of that contribution was beginning to drop".

"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," said director of income generation Tracie Harrison.

The charity thanked its customers for "a decade's loyalty" and said the shop would stop trading at the end of April.

Harrison added the shop had a lot of supportive customers and donors, who she did not want to feel they had let the charity down.

But footfall at the charity's first "large format" store has dwindled as occupants of the trading estate changed, she explained.

In addition, the number of items donated had decreased, and bargain hunters expected lower prices, she added.

"Collectively, our shops generate more than £1.5m for our caring services and are vital to our financial planning and security," she said.

"In securing that valuable contribution, we also have to balance the cost of generating it in the first place."

"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."

The charity said staff and volunteers affected were being offered alternative options.

Donations of furniture and electrical items would be accepted until 19 March.

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