Pop Goes the Family Store!

On Wednesday 22 May the Pukekohe Family Store hosted a balloon-popping event. Every purchase—regardless of price—qualified customers to pop a balloon and potentially win a prize. 120 balloons were popped between 10am and 2pm.

‘We had a really successful day, with loads of people coming in and joining the fun of popping a balloon and taking home a prize,’ explains team leader Andrea Combrink. ‘The customers really enjoyed it!’

After a period of changes in the store the goal was to encourage the community back through the doors. ‘In order to do that we wanted people to feel that they just had to come into the Family Store today!’

Prizes were gathered from quality donations and the wider Pukekohe community also provided prizes. ‘We had a couple of gift vouchers to give away too,’ says Andrea. ‘The local community was more than happy to donate to us for the event.’

It was a team effort, with Pukekohe Salvation Army leaders Lieutenants Nick and Rebecca Moffat serving free barista coffee instore, and there was also a BBQ outside to further entice the community to come in.

Andrea explains that ‘as a staff and volunteer team we are a very diverse group with some of us from Thailand, South Africa and Tonga, so we also had a baking table with everyone making something special from their culture.’

Another impetus behind the event was reminding the community that everything sold in the store comes from donations. ‘Everything we sell, and the prizes we gave away on the day, come from community donations and we wanted to remind our customers of that to encourage more donations’, explains Andrea. ‘There are also a lot of op shops in our area, so we want customers to feel especially welcome and at home here in our store.’