The Altona MCC Gift & Thrift Store kicked off a new chapter with a grand re-opening celebration last week.
The redesign included creating a dedicated children’s department
Staff, volunteers, and supporters gathered at the store Feb. 11 to cut the ribbon on its fresh new look.
After decades in their Main St. location, the shop had taken on a bit of a haphazard layout, observed manager Dave Rempel, as they added new departments wherever they best fit.
“There were some departments that had become sort of scattered over the years,” he said. “You put something in here and you put something in over there … we tried to amalgamate all those so it’s a little more cohesive. It ended up being a reorganization of the whole store.”
They converted the old Ten Thousand Villages room—which had become the staff break room and the donation processing space—into a dedicated children’s department.
“We wanted to recapture that for our retail space, so that’s one of the first things we did,” Rempel said. “It’s got all the children’s clothing, the toys, all in one location to make shopping easier for moms.”
They then created a new processing space and staff room in the rear of the building, Rempel explained, “and then we just carried on from there.
“We created a new shoe department, we created more space for women’s clothing—that’s always our number one seller, so we really gave that a good emphasis—and then we really tried to make sure that we have good flow through the entire store in terms of how we organized all of our departments and also to make the shopping experience just feel better for our customers.”
Wider aisles, a fresh coat of paint, better lighting, and clearer signage give the store a much more welcoming and organized atmosphere, Rempel said.
“We had a committee that was helping oversee it all, but it always ends up being a little bit bigger than what you think initially,” he said, noting planning for this project began a year ago, but work started in earnest last fall, wrapping up just after Christmas.
Rempel sends thanks out to everyone involved in making it all happen—including the store’s volunteer team, who weathered the worst of the chaos the renovations generated.
“It was tough for the volunteers, so we really appreciate their patience in the whole process,” he said. “And the end result of it all really paid off. The customers are loving it, and the volunteers are adjusting to it all.
“We have over 100 volunteers that make this shop possible,” Rempel noted. “It’s really incredible what happens here day in and day out, week after week, month after month, and year after year. It’s really incredible in terms of the donor support as well—people keep donating their goods that they no longer need, our volunteers keep processing it, and shoppers keep coming and purchasing it.”
The proceeds from those sales go to support Mennonite Central Committee’s global relief efforts and also help fund a host of charitable projects close to home.
The Altona location was the very first MCC thrift store ever opened back in 1972. Today there volunteer-run shops all across North America, shared Josué Figueroa, director of social enterprise for MCC Manitoba.
“Altona holds a very special place in the story of MCC thrift,” he said. “It’s not just another store in the network. This is where it all began.
“What started as a faithful effort has now brought into this enterprise almost a hundred stores in the U.S. and Canada, all supporting the work of MCC, all supporting your community.
“Every thing that you do here matters—matters here in the community, around the world. It ripples outward into the community and the more than 45 countries where MCC works helping people and serving people and sharing God’s love to all.”
The honour of officially cutting the ribbon went to longtime volunteer Mary Klassen, who was also involved with the committee overseeing the renovations.
“I started here just hanging up clothes and stuff, years ago,” she shared of her involvement with the store, which stretches back several decades. “Then I started making blankets and eventually I started in the back [pricing].
“This is a family,” Klassen said of what’s kept her coming back. She urges anyone looking for a meaningful way to give back to reach out to the store to learn more about getting involved as a volunteer.
Klassen has been around for so many changes at the thrift shop through the years—the addition or loss of various departments, the introduction of electronic price scanning—and while it can take some time to get used to something new, she says it’s usually for the better, long-term.
“This has been a very good change,” she observed of the new layout.
