DOT Shop I believe I have many possibilities

Last year September, DOT Shop started it operation after renovation, it aims to provide practice retail training to our service users, to boost their open employment. Up to now, there are around ten visually impaired members received the training. More than a half of them obtained a full time or part time job after completed the training at DOT Shop.

Sharing from Mark, Centre’s Supervisor

I would like to use “Started from Zero (由零開始)”, a song from Leslie Cheung to represent the challenges on the preparation of DOT Shop.

There is only a month from preparation to operation. Although the scale of DOT Shop is not big, to run a shop, there are a lot of things to do, included the shop decoration, cashier, stock management, shelf, refrigerator and etc. Luckily, we overcame all the challenges under the great team support.

During the epidemic, to protect our trainees, we decided to close the DOT Shop. We started to move the training to online, and established “Online DOT Shop” . Trainees are able to learn different skills apart from selling products in a physical store. It was a difficult task for us to handle the technical problems when setting up the online shop at the beginning, but we overcame.

Sharings from trainees

Anna：Elaine, the social worker invited me to join the training at DOT Shop, I reported duty on time every day, after I cleaned up and checked the cashier, customers would do shopping at the Shop, every purchases is a good chance for me to practice. When I met some customers who are in hurry, which is a real situation for me to learn how to handle.

If life is a journey, DOT Shop is an amazing stop for me!

Nicole: I used to be a clerk, I could return customers’ call later when there was call in. At DOT Shop, I need to answer customers’ enquiries immediately, the first week of my training, I was messy, I made mistakes when counting the cash when the shop opening and closing. I was wondering how to improve myself, and I tried to slow down and be more patient, I found I have improved. The major change after receiving training at DOT Shop was my attitude toward customers, I learnt how to satisfy the customers and put them in the first priority, to attract them to purchase again at the Shop. It paved a road for my future career.

Although they are visually impaired, they still believe in themselves. Let’s give them a chance and create more possibilities together.