Savvy Shoppers Go to Thrift Harbor

The store offers quality merchandise for every season and benefits Hope Harbor Children’s Home & Academy.

Thrift Harbor volunteer Crystal Dancer prepared the Fourth of July merchandise display so customers can find just the right item for their holiday decorating needs.

Most of us don’t think about shopping for a winter coat in July, but at Thrift Harbor, store manager Kim Prock wants shoppers to plan ahead. Not only will shopping ahead save money for customers, but it helps the store stay in sync with other stores looking down the road to the next season.

While the Fourth of July and summer vacations are on most people’s minds this time of year, Thrift Harbor employees and volunteers have already sorted out donations for upcoming seasons. If you were to take a trip upstairs at the resale shop, which supports Hope Harbor’s Children’s Home, you’d find neatly organized boxes separated by seasons, contents and sizes. For example, the fall and winter décor –Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas – has already been sorted, boxed and labeled, ready to be brought downstairs and arranged in pleasing displays for the shopper.

Boxes and boxes of winter coats, sorted into men,  women’s and children’s sizes, stand ready to be carted to the main floor and placed on hangers, ready for those shoppers who like getting a jumpstart on their winter shopping. While not all coats will be put out on July 1, Prock emphasizes to customers that shopping early will save them money and allow them to better manage their finances. “Instead of waiting until the weather turns cold and then having to run into a store to purchase more expensive outerwear, shoppers can start early and save while there is a better selection,” she says.

Most coats cost $3, unless individually priced. “We usually have a wonderful assortment of coats for everyone,” she adds.

According to the records she keeps, Prock says the store sold 200 coats in July of last year. “I believe that shows our shoppers like to plan ahead.”

Thrift Harbor opened in March of 2011 to support Hope Harbor and serve the community with quality items at an economical price. “It helps everyone during hard economic times to be able to shop here at our thrift store,” says Shane McClaugherty, who oversees the daily operations of the nonprofit store.

The store’s everyday low prices of $1.50 for quality adult and children’s clothing draws people in the door to shop for their families.  Shoes start at $2. Knick-knacks, books, furniture and collectibles range in price from twenty-five cents to $15. “We try to keep everything in the store low cost,” says McClaugherty.

New clothes are put out daily. In fact, more than 50,000 clothing items were sold at the store in 2013. Each item sold, in turn, made a difference in the life of a child or family right here in Oklahoma. To make a clothing donation or to donate other items, you can drop them off at the store, or at any of their blue donation bins located around the state.   

“We sort through all of our donated items and keep the good stuff. Broken, tattered and unsafe merchandise is tossed. We don’t sell anything that would be unsafe, such as broken electronics or appliances,” Prock adds. Located at 316 W Will Rogers Boulevard, Thrift Harbor outgrew their first location in a matter of months and moved into their current larger building down the street in September of 2012. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to support Hope Harbor Children’s Home & Academy and their Family Ministries. 

For more information, contact

Thrift Harbor

www.thriftharbor.com
 

About Author Carol Beck-Round

After 30 years in public school education, Carol Round retired and moved from Grand Lake to Claremore, Oklahoma in 2005, where she writes a weekly faith-based column which runs in 14 Oklahoma newspapers as well as several national and international publications. Three volumes of her columns have been compiled into collections: A Matter of Faith, Faith Matters and by FAITH alone. She has also written Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God and a companion workbook, The 40-Day Challenge. This past year she has written three children’s books, a series called Nana’s 3 Jars, to teach children about the value of giving, saving and spending money. All of Carol’s books are available through Amazon. In addition to writing her weekly column, authoring books and speaking to women’s groups, she writes for Value News. She also blogs regularly at www.carolaround.com. When she is not writing or speaking, she loves spending time with her three grandchildren, working in her flowerbeds, shooting photos, volunteering at her church or going on mission trips overseas, and hiking. She is also an avid reader and loves working crosswords and trying to solve Sudoku puzzles.