The Riddle Store is tucked behind the Athabasca Native Friendship Centre, and is one of Athabasca’s hidden gems.
Clothing, household items and books line the walls, and racks of clothing take up the floor space. For only $3 you can fill a grocery bag with anything that will fit. For $5 you can fill a black garbage bag.
Gray mentioned that, “With new customers it’s such a joy to watch their expression to see that you can get all this clothing for $3 or $5.”
Charity Jardine and Jane Gray work at the Riddle Store, and say it isn’t work at all.
“This is such a fun place to work, it doesn’t even feel like work,” Gray said. “The days go so quickly, and you never know what you are going to find.”
Donations are dropped off in bins, and Jardine and Gray sort through the submitted items.
“It’s wonderful if you are unpacking a box and there are customers watching and they see things they like.” Gray said. “It’s a joyful moment.”
The Riddle store specializes in donated items, new and old.
“The store is for everyone, it doesn’t matter what your social economic situation is,” Gray said. “If you are able to pay for brand new clothes, why not just come to Riddles, because you are recycling and helping the community, the Native Friendship centre, and the environment.”
By recycling these clothes and household items, they are being saved from landfills, and benefiting the community.
Since the opening of the Riddle Store approximately 10 years ago, it has grown so much that they are outgrowing their current location.
“The store was built three years ago,” Gray said. “They built onto the centre, which is great because we’re all one unit.”
The store doesn’t currently have the floor space to accommodate donated furniture. It does, however, boast a retail section.
“We have a few areas that are retail, but even our retail is even $1, or $2,” Jardine said. “The most expensive is probably $5, and that’s our big sale.”
Jardine explained that because of the amount of donations they are able to pick and choose what clothes get displayed in the store.
“We really like to see gently used clothing,” she said. “We don’t want rips or stains and people need to remember that if they don’t want to wear it themselves, than perhaps it is best not to donate it.”
The Riddle Store helps those who are currently trying to get back into the work force.
“The store works for all social economic groups,” she said. “Those who are working poor, or disenfranchised, we have a system so that we can help them any way we can.”
When someone cannot afford the price of items, “even if a person can only pay $0.50 or $1 just to allow that dignity of paying, we will accept that,” Gray said.
Then there are cases like Slave Lake last year where the Riddle Store donated tons of stuff to those displaced from their homes.
“Slave Lake residents were told they could come to the store and pick out what they needed at no charge,” Gray explained. “We very much believe in working with the community, and other communities if we can help out.”
The Riddle Store is also known for their regulars who go to see what items have been put out since they have last been there, whether that’s been a day or two.
“It’s just a pastime, to wander through and see what’s new for some of our customers,” Jardine said. “We meet a lot of collectors who are looking for certain items, which we can put aside for them.”
There are also a lot of crafters who wander through and check out the deals, and see if they can make something new out of something used.
The books in the Riddle Store are free of charge. Jardine compares their bookshelves to a free library.
“We get a lot of readers that come in and get books, leave a donation, and bring back the books and get more,” she said. Gray added that the books are free to promote literacy, something the Native Friendship Centre fully supports.
When the store receives items that are new and still in their original boxes, those items are put aside for the annual Kids’ Wrap.
“It’s a shop where the kids can come and they are only paying up to $3 for items,” Jardine said.
The store has also started a new voucher program that is just getting off the ground.
Without volunteers the Riddle Store wouldn’t be a success.
“We have half a dozen regular volunteers and we welcome new ones all the time,” Jardine said. “In the spring and summer months we are overwhelmed with donations, so we really need volunteers for that time.”
After people hold their garage sales, they drop the items that didn’t sell off at the Riddle Store in truckloads according to Jardine.
The Riddle Store offers something for everyone’s price range, and even has a free table just outside the door.
“Stuff we don’t want to throw away, but has been sitting on our shelves for a long time ends up on the free table,” Jardine said.
