BENGALURU: ‘Street Store’, a world-wide movement for the underprivileged, has caught the attention of city girls Navni Bhojwani and Samriddhi Agarwal. And they now plan to recreate the magic in Namma Bengaluru.
With the message ‘Hang up. Help out', the store gives homeless and poor people a chance to shop with dignity. At the end of the shopping spree, instead of a bill, they are presented with a smile. This is because all the products are donated.
The first ‘Street Store’ in city will open on November 23 at the MG Road Boulevard near the Metro station from 10 am to 6 pm.
“We want to reach out to the less fortunate people in our city like those without a home, orphans or other people in need. Our aim is to make sure that these people are able to pick up stuff that they want. Shopping is something which excites most of us and they too should be able to enjoy it,” Samriddhi says.
With only a few days to go for the pop-up store to open, Navni and Samriddhi are busy putting things together. “We have received so many items that we are finding it hard to store them all. Our house is full of boxes with things people wanted to give away. This is a great show of affection and generosity,” Navni says.
The boxes contain clothes, shoes and surprisingly, toys. “We are hoping to see a lot of orphaned children. Many of us have old toys lying around. These can light up a child's life,” Samriddhi adds.
The duo also contacted NGOs for help but the response was lukewarm. "It would be great to work with a few NGOs in the sector to ensure that the donated stuff reaches those in need,” says Navni.
Earlier this year, Street Stores also popped up in Bhubaneshwar. They were started by like-minded samaritans and witnessed a great response. “It was heartening to hear that around 600 people ‘shopped’ in Bhubaneshwar. For the opening day, we are expecting around 800 people,” says Samriddhi.
Initially, the duo had planned to give three garments per shopper but later they increased it to five. "This was done because we got boxes full of clothes as donation," she adds.
White Collar Laundry has also agreed to wash all these clothes for free.
On 23rd, around seven stalls will be set up at the MG Road Boulevard. Each stall will have something different to offer to visitors. “We want these people to know how it feels to shop. Hopefully, it will be a success. We have our fingers crossed,” Navni said.
For more details about donations visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/thestreetstorebengaluru or send a mail to navni.bhojwani@gmail.com