A COMMUNITY furniture store has had a make-over after a 35k cash injection.
Crest Furniture Reclaim (CFR), Douglas Road, Colwyn Bay, has been awarded funding from Cyfenter of more than £35, 000 to transform the building. The furniture and electrical shop, which is run by social enterprise Crest Co-operative, has been given a new lease of life following work to the building exterior, roof and internal refurbishment.
Staff at the site have worked hard to add the finishing touches to Crest Furniture Reclaim this week, which was closed on Monday and Tuesday, to allow the team to paint and clean.
The Douglas Road retail outlet has helped Conwy residents to furnish their homes on a budget for many years. Social enterprise Crest Co-operative reopened the building in 2013 and safeguarded jobs, after it suffered closure under previous ownership.
Crest Co-operative work with the local authority to carry out collections of unwanted furniture and electricals from residents across the county. The social enterprise run a Material Reuse Facility (MRF) in Mochdre. Reclaimed washing machines, dryers, cookers and other appliances, are tested by a team of electrical engineers and resold in the stores.
In a bid to transform the shop, staff at Crest Furnished Reclaim have extended the range of refurnished electricals on offer and have transformed the showroom, to include a larger selection of second hand furniture.
Sharon Jones, Chief Executive at Crest Co-operative, said: “We are extremely grateful to Cyfenter for awarding a grant to Crest Furniture Reclaim. The building was in need of repair and this funding has allowed us to improve the Douglas Road site internally and externally to make it a more welcoming environment for Colwyn Bay shoppers.
“We are aware that Crest Furniture Reclaim is a service that is used by residents across the local area and we were keen to make sure that the building was revamped and that the service stays in Colwyn Bay. It is vital that residents are able to buy second hand items at a low cost to furnish homes on a budget.”
Staff at the store have also worked to transform unwanted furniture into new items by repainting and waxing the items. The Shabby Chic furniture trend has been used to give furniture items a new look.
Second life carpet tiles have also been used to transform the building.
The social enterprise now plans to offer an increased number of interest free payment plans to help Conwy residents on low incomes.
For further information visit www.crestcooperative.co.uk, search for Crest Co-operative on Facebook or @crestrecycle on Twitter.
