Blessed Buys Thrift Shoppe volunteers include, standing from left, Mamie Lajoie, Barbara James and Doug James; and seated, from left, the Rev. Paul Nesbit, Tina Dunlop (kneeling), Cindy Gaylord, Dorothy Cichonski, Anne Gelinas and Carol Whalen.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
WESTFIELD — Blessed Buys Thrift Shoppe has been busy this winter preparing a new space in the basement of the First Congregational Church at 18 Broad St., directly behind its current store in Old Town Hall.
A grand opening of the new location, where volunteers have been placing new donated inventory since January, is on Thursday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cindy Gaylord, a volunteer at the shop, said the new space has been cleaned and painted and looks beautiful, with a new art gallery displayed in the hallway. “We had an artist that set the whole thing up for us,” said Gaylord. “It just looks so nice.”
The new store will continue to feature clothing and shoes, jewelry, an expanded men’s clothing, shoes and hats section, and an expanded area for home decor and appliances.
“We’re hoping to have more small furniture, too. We don’t have a lot yet, but we do have a spot for it,” Gaylord said.
The Blessed Buys location on 20 Broad St. in the Old Town Hall will remain open through the end of May or until everything is sold.
The Blessed Buys Thrift Shoppe is run entirely by volunteers from the First Congregational Church, and all of the items for sale are donated.
“A lot of the items that we moved over still have the tags on them; they’re brand new,” Gaylord said.
The store has also given 20% of its profits every quarter since it opened to area nonprofits. The rest of the money raised goes toward the costs of the church, Gaylord said.
The Blessed Buys Thrift Shoppe is moving its location due to the pending sale of the Old Town Hall to DOMUS, Inc. for veterans housing.
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter
- Amy Porter