Part of the Niccolls Thrift Shop volunteer team: Pam Leach, Natalie Tickner, Carol Clark & Margaret Vandelinder. Photo by Dana Armingotn
The Niccolls Memorial Church Thrift Shop has seen drastic growth in its 40 years of service to the Old Forge area and surrounding communities, offering quality gently used clothing and home goods at incredibly low prices.
Each week, a team of volunteers meets in the basement of Niccolls Church to sort through and organize the abundance of articles that have been generously donated by the community.
With each passing week, they are so in awe of the quality of the goods before them that they now affectionately refer to the shop as “Niccolls Boutique.”“I really wish more local people would shop here, especially people with children. We get some really nice things, including clothes that still have the tags on them!” said Thrift Shop leadership team member, Nadine Sanders.
The focus of the shop, according to volunteer Mary Brophy-Moore, is to recycle as much of the donated goods as possible back into the community.
She stressed that all proceeds go directly to such mission outreach organizations as Hope House in Utica, the local Community Transportation Service (CTS) Van, the local food pantries, the Salvation Army, CareNet, and Evelyn’s House, among others.
The Thrift Shop is open on Friday and Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon, and Friday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and according to Nadine, additional volunteers are always welcome to help with the sorting and organizing.
“Anyone can just show up on a Wednesday between 10 a.m. and noon to help. But if anyone can’t make it during that time, they can volunteer in another way. We are always looking for people to cashier,” Mary said. While they do have suggested prices on a variety of items, to keep things interesting and to help make room in the shop, they offer a variety of weekly specials, including this weeks’ ‘free sweater’ special.
They also have “Name your own price” days, and every third weekend of the month they feature $2 bag days.
“The Thrift Shop has really been a Godsend to a lot of people in the area, especially those with children. We have a ton of clothing,” said volunteer Margaret Vandelinder.
To find out more about the “Boutique” or to volunteer, call either Nadine at (315) 369-8244 or Mary at Niccolls Church at (315) 369-3475.
