Beyond the Thrift, a nonprofit thrift store, is now open inside a strip mall on Madison Avenue in Greenwood.
Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
The owner of a new Greenwood thrift store is providing a space for people to give back to local organizations and those in need.
Beyond the Thrift, a nonprofit, opened last month in a space at a strip mall along Madison Avenue near the Greenwood Park Mall. Inside, customers can find a variety of clothing items for women, men and children, along with housewares, shoes, bedding sheets and more.
The store’s origins began in e-commerce, said Kim Rose, the owner of Beyond the Thrift, who runs the store with her husband, William “Bill” Rose. Kim Rose has been a reseller of products for a long time. Eventually, the Greenwood resident was able to get a flex space for her e-commerce operation, she said.
About 2.5 years ago, Rose had to step back from the e-commerce operation when her father was sick. She spent her time taking care of him, she said.
After he passed away, she reevaluated what her purpose in life should be. He was in hospice at Anew Hospice, which relies on a lot of donations. This led to the idea of trying to help organizations that rely on donations, Rose said.
“I had the thought process of, ‘What can I do to help all of these other places but still do what I enjoy doing?” Rose said. “So that’s where this kind of came from. We still had a lot of inventory from the e-commerce, so it just transferred over into the store.”
Now entering its sixth week of operation, Rose says business has been mostly slow. At first, it was just regulars from another location coming back, but last weekend the store saw a large number of people come in, she said.
“That was nice, but outside of that, it’s growing. It’s gonna take time,” Rose said.
Beyond the Thrift primarily has clothing, but also carries knickknacks, home goods and a small collection of shoes. The items are low priced, a deliberate move by Rose.
“We’re hoping that we can be viewed from the community perspective as a low-cost shopping option,” she said. “We don’t want any of our clothes to be more than $3 or $4 apiece, which the big thrift stores can’t compete with that. Our overhead is a lot lower, obviously, than theirs.”
The nonprofit has also partnered with a couple of different local charities to give back. There is an area near the front of the store for donations, including a trash can set aside for Changing Footprints, a Rushville nonprofit that distributes shoes to those in need.
All of the shoes that they get donated go directly to Changing Footprints, Rose said. In December, Beyond the Thrift gave their Facebook followers a challenge — they wanted 200 shoes to be donated by the end of the year.
They surpassed that number in two days. Now, they have 661 shoes and counting, Rose said.
Beyond the Thrift also gives a lot of items to Wheeler Mission, an Indianapolis ministry that provides goods and services to those that are homeless, and Johnson County Senior Services. Rose hopes the store will also become a food pantry drop-off for JCSS, she said.
“Even though we can’t offer financial contributions yet, because we’re not profitable, we’re taking what we do have and still trying to help where we can,” Rose said.
Rose hopes for Beyond the Thrift to act as a middleman between people most in need of an item, and the people who can provide it.
“I might put a wheelchair out on the floor for $10. To me, it’s more important that that wheelchair makes it to someone else that actually needs it versus getting $10 for it,” she said.
A few weeks ago, the store helped a man who was in need of a walker. They posted on Facebook, asking if anyone was willing to donate a walker. They were able to facilitate him getting one for free through connections they had, Rose said.
“That’s kind of where we’re hoping we fit in,” she said.
Right now, it’s just Rose and her husband at the store. Another woman will be starting to work at the store soon, she said.
Beyond the Thrift wants to offer compassion and kindness, and its employees want to get to know their customers. They know specifics about their regulars, she said.
“It’s a very personal experience for them versus us making a couple of dollars,” Rose said. “It’s more about them personally and growing that relationship.”
People who want to donate to the store just have to drop by when they’re open, and Rose and her husband will try to get them processed the same day. They will accept clothing, toys and home decor, but one thing they will not accept is big furniture. They do not have room for it, she said.
AT A GLANCE
Beyond the Thrift
Where: 1211 N. Madison Avenue, Suite J, Greenwood
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays, 12 to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
More information: Facebook.com/beyondthethrift1
