A Small Thrift Shop With A Whole Lot To Offer

Mennonite Central Committee has 100 thrift shops throughout the U.S. and Canada, I have been fortunate to visit a particularly special one. The Depot Thrift Shop is a decent-sized shop, it is split into a variety of sections including clothing, glassware, books, furniture, and costume jewelry. This shop is small compared to a department store but it has charisma and items that would be hard to find elsewhere.

Galen Kauffmann, Depot store manager, and associate Cami Reeves, who have worked together at the shop for years agree that their shop, in particular, is quite special. They have a way of operating, they have set hours for the store, they replenish daily and there are donations every single day non-stop.

Clothes are the biggest seller at this thrift shop. With donations coming in every day, there is always something new to look forward to. For that reason there are people shopping at the store every single day says Kauffmann, “This thrift shop is exceptional,” he chuckles, “We have good quality stuff, it is presented beautifully, and it is replenished every day. People that want to get new and quality clothing, come in every day.”

Reeves mentions that it takes a village to be able to put out the best clothing, “We have a wonderful team of ladies that come in and they’re so picky about making sure things look nice. We weed out what is worn, torn, and stained and then we try not to put out anything with a date on it. We have a process and about 50 percent of clothing make the cut.”

This store is different when it comes to advertising… they don’t advertise. Reeves admits, “We don’t generally have to do a whole lot of advertising because we are just really blessed with how many people we have in our store, and word of mouth has been great for us. I think the fact that we are really picky about what we put out and the process, we steam, we don’t wash anything, we just make sure everything looks great.” This business model seems to really help the store thrive, their attention to detail is the reason for their success, and what differentiates them from a secondhand shop like GoodWill.

The Depot team is dedicated. They want the best for their customers and they do what they can to choose quality items for customers to purchase. They keep their prices consistent and their promise of replenishing the store every day and even every hour makes them stand out in the industry.

The Depot might be a small thrift shop, but its ability to provide for its customers is mighty