Stemless martini glasses, a mid-century modern table, kitschy refrigerator magnets, a collection of Jan Karon novels, $2 capri pants — the list of treasures a bargain hunter might find at Everett’s New &Again Thrift Shoppe is a long one. The store, which supports Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, will soon have a new home.
Its address will change, but not the store’s mission nor its variety of merchandise.
Wednesday is the last day the New &Again Thrift Shoppe will be open at 3116 Rucker Ave. All merchandise will be 75 percent off regular prices for the day. The shop will reopen Aug. 1 in its new home at 3010 Grand Ave., a block west and one block north of where it is now.
Store manager Amber McGuire said the current site, just south of Pacific Avenue on Rucker, will soon lose on-street parking because of plans for a bus stop and traffic changes. The new location on Grand, a 5,355-square-foot building, was once a state liquor store. It has off-street parking and a loading dock at the back of the store.
For 13 years, shop sales have raised money for Domestic Violence Services, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency shelter and confidential, comprehensive services to victims of domestic abuse. It’s also a place where people being helped by the agency can go to obtain free clothes and household items.
“Clients at the emergency shelter have often left with just the clothes on their backs,” said Debra Bordsen, the organization’s deputy director for development.
Bordsen said the shop, with the help of 19 volunteers, brings in about $165,000 per year. People being helped by Domestic Violence Services get vouchers to “shop” in the store at no charge. “They can come get a dishes, clothes or a couch,” Bordsen said. “Whatever is left, we sell.”
Vicci Hilty, the agency’s executive director, said proceeds pay for costs associated with running the shop and go into the general fund for other needs.
The agency’s emergency shelter can house 13 women and up to 33 children every night, Bordsen said. Domestic Violence Services also leases apartments to provide transitional housing. About 10 percent of those helped by the agency are men, she said.
The building at 3116 Rucker Ave. is owned by the Roy &Ann Thorsen Family LLC. Steve Hagen, a managing member of the limited liability company, said the thrift shop building and others on the block are for sale. He said Domestic Violence Services paid below market-rate rent, and that he helped the nonprofit end its lease.
He said the city is “taking some of our corner for a right-turn lane and moving the bus stop.”
McGuire said Hagen has been a wonderful ally for the agency.
Snohomish County property records show the owner of the shop’s new location as 3010 Grand LLC, which in 2015 purchased the building, for $600,000, from Beverly A. Ardohain.
Hilty is excited that the shop’s new home is near the new Potala Place Everett apartment complex, the Hampton Inn hotel and Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s Pacific Campus.
“We hated leaving the other location, but this will be a game-changer,” Hilty said. “That area is seeing a renaissance, and the building has that urban feel.”
McGuire and Bordsen said donors play a huge part in the shop’s success. A large donation from the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound helped the store open 13 years ago. And generous people regularly bring in their gently used merchandise.
One donor is best-selling mystery author J.A. Jance. In 2014, Jance was keynote speaker at the annual Hope Within Luncheon, which raises money for Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County.
“She donates clothes,” Bordsen said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Shop moving
Everett’s New &Again Thrift Shoppe, a program of Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, will open Aug. 1 at a new location, 3010 Grand Ave. It will be closed July 21-31. Wednesday is the last day at its current location, 3116 Rucker Ave. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Information: 425-258-4428.
Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County operates a 24-hour hotline for people needing help: 425-252-2873 (425-25 ABUSE).
