The weekend of August 4th was a festive occasion for Choices for Youth’s (CFY) Education, Employment, and Social Enterprise (EESE) team as one of their Social Enterprises, Neighbourhood, celebrated its fifth birthday.
Neighbourhood is a thrift boutique that sells gently-used clothing and accessories for all ages and occasions. As a CFY social enterprise, Neighbourhood is more than just a business – it provides meaningful training and employment opportunities for youth in a supportive and empowering environment.
Neighbourhood first opened its doors at 38 Pearson Street on August 14, 2018. It was a simple, time-tested concept – re-purpose donations of gently-used clothing items and accessories to offer a fresh take on the thrifting experience, with inclusivity as the top priority. Now operating six days per week and with a presence on Facebook and Instagram, Neighbourhood has grown into a successful social enterprise that has given 52 youth in NL the opportunity to learn a variety of skills to prepare them for the job market, resulting in over 50,000 employment hours.
Customers could always find great deals at Neighbourhood with their “blanket pricing” – where all items of a certain type have the same price, i.e., $5 for a pair of pants or other bottoms, regardless of brand. To celebrate five years in business, Neighbourhood upped (or lowered, in this case) the ante by offering a store-wide $2 sale from August 4-6. This deal was a huge hit with Neighbourhood’s customers, with the three-day sale raising $5,000, all of which will be reinvested in CFY’s training, education, and employment programs.
Another of CFY’s social enterprises, Impact Construction, set up an outdoor space in the Neighbourhood parking lot where members of CFY’s EESE team served up hot dogs and refreshments to eager customers. Special thanks to Impact and the EESE team for their contributions to this event.
Neighbourhood’s birthday celebration and sale would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the staff and supervisors who kept the social enterprise running and stocked throughout the weekend. Over 2,700 items were sold over the three-day period, so there was no shortage of work to be done!
Neighbourhood accepts donations of gently-used clothing and accessories on-site during its hours of operation: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Monday to Saturday and 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm on Sundays.
If you are interested in working at Neighbourhood and are a youth aged 16-29 living in the St. John’s area, you can apply to attend their pre-employment Customer Experience training program with the CFY Training & Education team.
Visit CFY’s website for more information: https://www.choicesforyouth.ca/social-enterprise
Written by Chris Morris