EDMONDS — Many stores have discounts for seniors.
Not this one.
All ages pay the same.
That’s because items are already bargain-priced at the Edmonds Senior Center Thrift Store.
The senior center on the downtown waterfront has had a store on site for decades. This allows members to conveniently donate items that benefit the center and also score deals.
The Edmonds center is closing that store and branching out. On Wednesday, it is opening a shop in the suburban Westgate Shopping Center, 22820 100th Ave. W.
This should attract a broader customer base. The shop is in the same plaza as QFC and two doors down from a Goodwill store.
“We liked that it was next to Goodwill and there seems to be a nice vibe and a lot of development here,” said Daniel Johnson, the center’s capital campaign director. “The space is large enough that we can offer furniture, which we haven’t been able to do before.”
Volunteers have been busy unpacking boxes of books, clothes, doodads and other trappings of civilization.
Barbara Halseth, a longtime volunteer, will be the manager, the store’s only paid position.
“We have all the basics for a house,” Halseth said.
And some not-so-basics.
“We get things every once in a while that we call ‘whatsits.’ We have no idea what it’s for. So we leave it on our work table for a week for the whole crew to figure out what it is,” Halseth said.
“We don’t always succeed. Once in a while we get a customer to tell us what it is.”
Jewelry and special items will be kept in a locked glass case.
Karen Tiede prices plates and other kitchenware at the Edmonds Senior Center’s new thrift store. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Donations often come from downsizers.
“Edmonds is an area where you get a lot of people moving out of their homes into a condo,” she said. “Every once in a while we get a Waterford (crystal) piece.”
The center hopes to expand its donor base.
The shop has a big box of reading glasses but does not have kids’ clothes or toys. That might change. If you bring it, they will sell it.
All proceeds from sales are used to support senior center programs and services.
A new $16 million center, built by the Edmonds Senior Center in partnership with the city, is scheduled to break ground in the spring. It will be known as the Edmonds Waterfront Center, a community facility for all ages, in addition to housing senior programs.
The store will have a grand opening Jan. 19. Doors open at 10 a.m. A fashion show begins at 10:30. “Personal shoppers” will be on hand to show customers around.
Regular hours will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
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