A new and improved Mission Thrift Store with boutique flair is reopening in Newmarket in a new space this month.
The store closed its door at 17255 Yonge St. on Dec. 30 and since then has been renovating and setting up its new space at 17310 Yonge St. across the street.
Mission Thrift Store is not-for-profit, volunteer drive Christian organization where all the proceeds go to Bible League Canada. The Newmarket store is one of 50 locations in Canada.
Store manager Liz Croft came into the role in 2020 after leaving a long career in health care. What appealed to her most about the position was the team of volunteers at the Newmarket store.
"It was the people that drew me here. It was the volunteers, it was their compassion, it was their commitment that I wanted to be a part of," she said.
There are some paid staff members who work the cash registers and the receiving area, but otherwise Mission Thrift Store is driven by dedicated volunteers.
They sort donations, make sure everything is clean, in good condition and ready to sell, price items, merchandise them, set them up on the shelves and overall keep the store running.
Even through the pandemic volunteers were able to keep it going through curbside pick-up, video shopping, and more.
However, the former location made it difficult for Mission Thrift Store to serve the community.
Croft said the space was dark, the location was somewhat hidden away, and the roof was leaky, leading to an unfortunate odour.
"If we want to really, really give back to the community and do them justice and have our volunteers do them justice, then we have to do something, we have to listen," she said. "Because they said, 'Liz, we love the store. We love coming here, but there's an odour, there's a smell.' And it was because the roof was leaking."
With the support of the board and foundation, they are with they began looking for a new space and the perfect place was available in a plaza almost right across the street.
"The Lord was telling us, this is where you need to be," she said.
The new store is bright and fresh with big windows to let in natural light. There are well spaced out and clearly labelled sections for items such as linens, housewares, books, fashion, furniture and even a Christmas section that will be there all year round.
The aisles are wide, the shelves are well organized and there are areas throughout for people to stop and sit and be part of the community. It's all part of Croft's vision for Mission Thrift Store.
She said she wanted to challenge the traditional idea of thrift store as being a dingy place or junk shop.
"I want to take that stigma away. That's why I wanted to make it like a boutique," she said.
It has been a somewhat long road to get them to this place, having been closed for more than a month now. Croft said their regular customers are itching for them to re-open.
She said she gets "at least 50 messages a night. And that's not including my phone calls. And that's not including people coming to the door."
The opening date is dependent on some final approvals of the new building but Croft is hoping to open within the next two weeks. She said anyone who is interested can follow their social media pages for updates on when exactly they will be back in business.
