The Vinnies CEO Sleepout is a one-night event over one of the longest and coldest nights of the year. Hundreds of CEOs, business owners as well as community and government leaders sleep outdoors to support the many Australians who are experiencing homelessness. ( St Vincent de Paul Society, 2019)
Alex Ouwens and Nathan Casserly started Ouwens Casserly back in 2014 to help people of Adelaide realise their dreams and aspirations through property. To learn that approximately 6000 people in Adelaide sleep on our streets without a roof over their heads was shocking and Nathan is determined to make a difference.
Last week, Nathan Casserly met with Kelly, manager of the Adelaide Waymouth Street Vinnies Store to discuss the importance of supporting your local Vinnies stores and the variety of high quality fashion these stores possess.
Nathan: Vinnies CEO David Walk has sent me down to the Adelaide Waymouth Street Vinnies Store to meet with the lovely Kelly, who’s the store manager. This is one of 38 stores here in South Australia of Vinnies Retail Stores. So Kelly, in particular this store, what sort of clientele come through the door and shop here?
Kelly: Because we’re in the city, we have a lot of lawyers, office people, and banks nearby. It is a really good situated store. Our busiest times are around the lunch break hours between 11 and 2. It is a great way for people who work in the area to see what is in store! We get all foot traffic as being on a popular street in the heart of the CBD, parking is limited.
Nathan: I had a good look around and did some shopping earlier. There’s some exceptional quality items here and many brands that are well-known. The quality of the items themselves are impressive, many of them haven’t been used. So what sort of items are available at this particular store?
Kelly: This store is very, very lucky. Our warehouse collects everything that comes into this shop, so we don’t do any sorting in here. The sorter at the warehouse is very good and selects all the designer brands. We only have the best of the best come into this store so we can get the better prices, and that makes a difference. As we are a boutique store, we need to ensure we have a shop filled with quality items, every sale counts. We stock a wide range of clothing including shoes, handbags, belts and accessories. Our men’s collection is fantastic, we are very fortunate with the quality of our men’s clothing.
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Nathan: How can the community and ourselves best support Vinnie’s and the retail stores?
Kelly: The best way to support our stores is to donate, all of our stores will take in your donations. We have little bins out at the front of all stores for collection. Just remember to try to donate in our working hours, because if you’re donating after-hours, a lot of things go missing or damaged especially because now it’s winter.
Nathan: Brilliant. So if you’re in the Adelaide CBD, drop into the Waymouth store, visit and have a chat to the lovely Kelly! If you’d like to support further, don’t forget the CEO Sleepout is on June the 20th. Get online, we’d love for your support and donation.
If like us, you agree that the statistics around homelessness in South Australia are staggering and simply not acceptable, you can help make a difference. Please support Nathan in the CEO Sleepout.
