The Hampden Senior Center’s pop-up boutique includes multiple racks of new and gently use clothing donated by residents, Activities Coordinator Diane Marino said.
Reminder Publishing submitted photos
HAMPDEN — Throughout the month of August, the Hampden Senior Center is hosting a pop-up boutique of donated items to help support the cost of expanding the center.
Located in the Great Room, the pop-up boutique will sell items including new and gently used clothes, shoes, dishware and decorations with items restocked each time items are sold, Activities Coordinator Diane Marino told Reminder Publishing. The boutique is open to the general public, including visitors from surrounding towns.
“We have a real menagerie of items,” she said, emphasizing that the boutique was “well worth the trip” for local residents who regularly thrift.
The boutique officially opened on Monday, Aug. 5 and will continue until the end of the month. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday as well as 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursdays. These hours are scheduled in order to keep the boutique open when other activities are not ongoing in the Great Room, Marino stated, noting that the center was restricted on its availability of programs due to limited space.
Items at the pop-up boutique are “very affordably priced,” including $1 household items and $5 clothing, Marino said. All funds raised from the boutique will go towards the Senior Center Building Fund, which supports the cost of expanding the center.
The Hampden Senior Center expansion project was first brought to Town Meeting on May 13 and was voted down by a majority of residents with many pointing to the project’s cost at $6.55 million as a concerning factor. As a result, the Senior Center Building Committee began work on a modified proposal, which is expected to be brought forward at fall Town Meeting on Oct. 29, according to ex officio member and Selectmen John Flynn.
The boutique is one of multiple fundraisers sponsored by the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens to help raise funds for the senior center expansion. The idea for the boutique came after the Senior Center first began to sell donated items on a single rack in the receptionist area in February, Marino explained. The “Come What May” shop became very popular among senior center visitors with residents even asking if the shop would return after it was taken down once for a special event. The shop had one clothing rack and one table of items, Marino said.
Due to the shop’s popularity, the Senior Center decided to host the larger pop-up boutique, with eight tables and as many clothing racks as the center had available, in order to expand the little shop to its own “thrift store,” Marino stated. She highlighted that multiple surrounding towns have thrift stores, but Hampden does not and said that the boutique “is [Hampden’s] own little thrift store.”
While the “Come What May” shop has been taken down to utilize the rack and table for the boutique, the little shop will resume in September following the end of the boutique, Marino emphasized.
Additionally, if the Senior Center expansion is approved, there was discussion of including a permanent boutique at the upgraded center, she said. The Senior Center has also previously hosted a “Shop Til You Drop Annual Holiday Fundraiser” store at the center between Thanksgiving and the end of December.
Following the end of the August boutique, the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens is hosting a “clear all” tag sale on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the center. This tag sale will celebrate the end of the pop-up boutique and sell any remaining donated items, Marino said.
Donations are still currently being accepted for the boutique. Items can include accessories, books, clothing, home décor, household items, jewelry, puzzles and shoes, the Senior Center stated. For donation inquires, call the Hampden Senior Center at 413-566-5588. Large items cannot be accepted due to limited space at the center.
