The Ramona Food & Clothes Closet (RFCC) had a good turnout and community April 10 for the opening day of its new Home Store next to its thrift shop.
Customers made lots of purchases of merchandise, including housewares and linens along with pictures, lamps and small furniture, said RFCC Manager Vesna Curry.
“We were running out of stuff in the Home Store but we still have a lot of stock in the back,” Curry said. “Which was one of the primary reasons we did this. It’s a never-ending circle. We have so much goods donated that we don’t have the space to put it all out.”
The Home Store at 751 Main St. is in a freestanding building adjacent to the over 40-year-old RFCC thrift store at 733 Main St. The new space looks like an antique store but items will be sold at resale thrift store prices, Curry said.
The new store gives RFCC an additional 2,500 square feet. The extra space provides much needed display areas for an abundance of donations that are overflowing in the existing 10,000 square feet of combined workspace and showspace, Curry said.
She added that having extra display space in the Home Store frees up more space to sell non-household items such as clothes in the main store.
“We have so many donations we can’t put them all out for sale,” she said. “They just sit there. Clothing, housewares and linens are our three top sellers and we have no space for them.”
Curry said she was considering whether to expand RFCC by moving to a larger building at a new location in Ramona when, coincidentally, the upholstery shop next to its current site was ready to be put on the market. Curry said she saw it as the “perfect opportunity” to keep her thrift shop at its current location while still expanding.
“Actually it had not even been listed for sale,” she said. “We had our real estate agent the owner, and it had just been listed with another agent. Then we made an offer on it.”
Once the sale was final last fall, Curry and her staff made a quick flip with cosmetic changes to the interior and turned the building into The Christmas Store for the holidays. The store sold a mix of new and gently used items such as artificial Christmas trees and seasonal decor.
After the holidays, RFCC hired MC Home Builders Construction to do a complete makeover of the store with new windows and a new roof, fresh painting and other cosmetic upgrades, Curry said.
RFCC Board President Heather Sossong and RFCC Board Secretary Pete Reinagel provided assistance in working with the contractor to get the work done, Curry said.
“I couldn’t have done it without their ,” Curry said.
Four new staff have been hired to manage the surplus business. Sales will fulfill the RFCC’s mission, which is to sell donated items and use the proceeds to supply community in need with free food, clothing and household items, in addition to providing community grants and scholarships, Curry said.
The opening day event included giveaways of a reusable tote with the RFCC logo to the first 100 customers. The tote will be connected to sales promotions in the future.
The RFCC Home Store’s hours will be the same as the existing RFCC store – 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Donations to the Home Store are accepted the same way as at the existing store. Donations can be dropped off at the parking lot behind the main store and at the donation drive-thru.
“The community s us so much with donations that we want to be able to sell the items in a timely manner,” Curry said of the reason for expanding.
For more information, call the RFCC store at 760-789-4458.
