Despite the future of the charity shop looking bleak, the store is set to remain open.
The shop is located on Hverfisgata 94-96 and was re-opened last November. The company wanted to see whether there was a big enough market of people looking for reused items.
The shop is owned by SORPA, who are a waste management company in Iceland. They specialise in recycling and finding new uses for old items.
The store’s recent success has inspired SORPA to negotiate terms with owners of the building on Hverfisgata for a long term ownership.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Contributions to the store are exceptionally important to SORPA’s commitment to reducing waste in the country.
The success of the project can be seen in the amount of items that have been sold in the store when compared with last year.
12,000 more items were sold this January than were sold at the same time last year.
Photo credit by Thrainn Kolbeinsson
The cycle continues.
Gunnar Dofri Ólafsson, specialist in communication and community activity for SORPA, told the Grapevine in a statement that “SORPA is increasingly emphasizing the upper tier of the waste triangle. We strive to treat waste in the best possible way for the circular economy, for example, by finding used items by new users.”
Jón Viggó Gunnarsson, the managing director of SORPA, has stated how pleased he has been with the amount of donations the store a has received.
The success of the store on Hverfisgata gives SORPA and the Good Shepard a reason to examine whether more stores should be set up across Reykjavik.
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