Local thrift shop moving to a larger location by the end of the month

By this time next month, The Clothes Less Traveled Thrift Shop will have a new home in Peachtree City.

The shop was the idea of Mary Ann Cox and Joan Velsmid. Cox was working for her church and receiving a lot of donated items from people, so many in fact that the church did not have enough space to store them all. Whitney Pyles, a junior at Woodward Academy, shared with Cox a vision of a place where all of these donated items could be stored. These items could be donated to people and families who needed them but could also be sold to people in the community in a thrift shop format. Cox and Pyles partnered up and nine years ago, the thrift shop moved into a 500 square foot store front on Huddleston Road.

“People give us anything and everything, and everything gets recycled, either put on our floor or donated to the American Family Foundation or the Salvation Army,” said Cox, past chair of the organization. Folks perusing the shop can find everything from baby bibs and clothing to refrigerators and gently used household items. The shop has 80 volunteers and two paid, part time store managers who work three days a week each. The shop is able to help a lot of people when they need it most. Not only did the shop take care of victims of Hurricane Katrina, but they have also been able to help local families who were the victims of house fires as well.

In addition to being able to outfit people and families with necessary items, the thrift shop has also been able to make donations and award grants to local non-profit groups.

“The group has donated a significant amount to over 70 not for profit organizations,” said current chair Velsmid, who added that they have also awarded four $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors in the county who have shown a commitment to excellence in their studies and community service. Some of the organizations who have received donations from the thrift shop, which is a not for profit organization itself, include Fayette Family YMCA, Fayette Samaritans, Fayette Care Clinic and Promise Place among others.

Over the years, the shop has gradually expanded. It now takes up five storefronts and 2,500 square feet and is running out of space. For the past eight months the board, made up of eight volunteers, has been aggressively searching for a new location. They recently found it in the Warehouse Patio store on GA Highway 74, in the plaza next to Gillroy’s. The new location gives the thrift shop 5,000 square feet, more parking and an overhead door in the back to make it easier to move large items. John Wieland Homes will be building the fitting rooms in the new location and Harry Norman Realtors will be moving the fixtures and merchandise from the old location to the new location.

The Clothes Less Traveled Thrift Shop will be open at its new location on Saturday, Apr. 1.

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