Home

     Make Donation
 
View Available Pets
Adoption Procedure
Membership
Be a Volunteer
Lost & Found
Memorial
Calendar
Programs
Adopt-a-Pet
Foster
Pet Partner
Spay/Neuter Help
55 - 5 Program
Newsletter
Contacts
Good News
Links
 
Email

Thrift Store Opening

The CHS Thrift Store in Arnold is now open for business! It's located between Big Trees Market and Round Table Pizza in the Meadowmont Shopping Center. This is the center where we held our Yard Sale on Memorial Day 2009.

With an early opening on October 29th and with a grand opening on November 6th, the store has already attracted hundreds of customers with its quality merchandise and bargain prices. We have developed loyal, everyday shoppers who are excited to see what new surprises are in store with each new day's merchandise. Many of our regular shoppers come from outside the county, and many more residents from nearby towns are seen in the store regularly. We're bringing shoppers to Arnold! And who doesn't like a nice drive up to the forest once in a while?

Repeat customers means we're doing things right. Bargains move off the shelf and new items take their places in a continuing cycle. Donations come in the door from passionate animal lovers and from those who just hate to see good things go to waste. The staff works quickly to keep up, and dozens of wonderful volunteers take turns helping. They research special items on eBay and on Craigslist along with other specialty websites. The only unhappy shoppers are those who missed a bargain bought by another shopper first.

Starting in late summer of 2009, we cobbled the place together with shelving and fixtures that we found from Sonora to Sacramento (and even in Murphys and Arnold!). Then we hired expert managers to prepare the merchandise and run the store. And you gotta admit the place looks beautiful!

To top it off, our county supervisor Merita Calloway led a coalition of local businesses to purchase the Dalmation Frog at the Frogtoberfest auction October 30th at Frog Town. She then said she wanted it displayed at our thrift store, and it's now there to welcome visitors who come to see us.

We're very happy with the outcome and hope you are, too. One customer said, "This is more than a thrift store, this is a boutique". For the guys, we have a "mascu-lane" with tools and stuff so they don't have to go home first before their wives come back to shop. We also have kids' toys and plan to open a cat adoption area in the future.

Please come check us out. I think you'll be glad you did.

Here's the story of how it all came about, since many have asked.

We have close ties with the Tuolomne Humane Society. They opened a successful thrift store in Sonora a couple of years ago, and they encouraged us also to do so. Meanwhile, our annual yard sale in Murphys needed to find a new home. Some of our members checked out the old Feed Store in Murphys for the next yard sale, and this led to the idea of turning the place into our very own thrift store year round. But the Feed Store property fell through, and we began to look elsewhere without success.

Soon enough it was yard sale time again, and former board member Judy Telezinski arranged to hold it at the Big Trees Market parking lot in Arnold at the Meadowmont Shopping Center. The yard sale was held on Memorial Day weekend and was an unexpectedly huge success.

Later that summer, Judy, I and others noticed that a business was moving out of the perfect location for our thrift store. We jumped on it immediately, and the rest is history. We had high-functioning teams work on the various parts of it. Garringer Painting donated the paint and labor. Carpet Masters shampood the rugs at a steep discount. Kline's Fitness Center and Olde Carriage Square Western Wear & Women's Clothing gave us discounts on fixtures. Secured Self Storage gave us a discount on storage and Becky Hazleton donated the first months rent.

,.. It was truly a community effort to benefit the animals.

Thanks to everyone who made this happen! There were a lot of you. And thanks to our customers for making it successful for the animals!