St. George Parish opens religious goods store

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Sharon Rawlins, manager of St. Therése of the Little Flower Gift Store at St. George Parish, St. George, said the new, larger gift store is an extension of the work first done by Helen Salvatore and Shirlee Monfredi, parish secretaries, who used to sell religious goods from a room once used as a confessional. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

ST. GEORGE — Catholics and members of other faiths in southern Utah no longer have to travel all the way to Salt Lake City to shop for religious goods or baptismal gowns. With the Aug. 19 grand opening of the St. Therése of the Little Flower Gift Store at St. George Church in St. George, rosaries, missals, books, statues, religious pictures and more are available a short drive away.

The gift store is, "Father Vidal’s dream" said manager Sharon Rawlins, a 13-year parishioner of St. George Parish. Quick to deflect credit for the store from herself, Rawlins is obviously delighted with her new volunteer job. She oversees the shop when she isn’t teaching religious education classes or setting up for funeral lunches.

"Fr. Vidal did all the work," Rawlins said of the shop located in the church’s old office. "Helen Salvatore and Shirlee Monfredi, parish secretaries, used to sell some religious goods out of a room that used to be a confessional."

Rawlins said the inspiration for the St. Therése gift store was a religious goods shop Fr. Vidal saw at a Catholic church in Mesquite, Nev.

"Our parishioners have always wanted access to religious goods, books, and gifts," she said in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic. "And many tourists are also looking for religious gifts. People from back East assume parishes out here have gift stores because so many of their parishes do."

Rawlins said many of the items in the new store have been purchased from national supply outlets like Autom and Gerkin’s. "I also get some items from a company called Gifts of Faith, and some from Mancuso’s in Salt Lake City. Fr. Vidal also shops for the store from dealers in Mexico."

Rawlins grew up in the Salt Lake City area in a military family. She attended Mass in the little chapel at Fort Douglas. Her family were members of Cathedral Parish, then St. Ambrose Parish and St. Olaf Parish, Bountiful. She accepted Fr. Vidal’s invitation to manage the gift store with no retail experience, but she has plenty of enthusiasm and some inventory control experience to make up for that.

"When new shipments of merchandise arrive, it’s like Christmas around here," she said.

Because she was busy helping her daughter enroll at Westminster College the weekend of the grand opening, she missed the celebration, but it hasn’t deterred her.

With an all volunteer staff of 10, the gift shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., and after all five Masses on weekends.

We’re closed on Monday because I need one day with my husband," Rawlins said. "We have great volunteers."

The new gift shop is slowly working its way up to having a regular clientele, and Rawlins said she is learning a lot by watching which merchandise moves and which doesn’t. She tries to meet the needs of everyone who comes in, placing special orders when necessary.

"We get a lot of customers from the St. George Parish Thrift Store, and I love being able to spend time here talking with people who come in."