Thrift Store reopens its doors

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Siuta B. Ika
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Holloman AFB Thrift Store held its grand reopening Aug. 14 at the store's new location inside Building 232 on Second St. and Connecticut Ave.

The Thrift Store, run by the Holloman Officers' Spouses' Club, provides Team Holloman members a cheaper avenue of acquiring new and gently-used items at a fraction of the cost of the item's retail value, said Carrie Dole, Thrift Store manager.

"We have a lot of nice items on our shelves right now," she said. "You never know what you're going to find, and all of the profits generated here go directly back to the Holloman and local communities."

The store, open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the first Saturday of every month starting in October, also offers consignment deals to anyone looking to sell their items.

"We will start taking consignments Sept. 4, and how it works is, if the item sells, we get 25 percent and the consignee gets 75 percent," Dole said. "It only costs the consignee $0.25 for every 12 items they bring in. But the consigned items only account for half of our inventory; the other half is all items that were donated to us. Even if we don't sell the items in the store, we will still accept anything, because if we don't use them, we will forwarded the items to other areas."

Between the money generated at the Thrift Store and the HOSC's annual auction, the HOSC is able to give back to multiple organizations on base and in the Alamogordo community, said Linda Penning, HOSC president.

"Last year we gave out $17,000 worth of scholarships, donated stuffed animals and toys to Gerald Champion and the medical clinic, provided uniforms to the kids in the [Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps] program downtown, and we also were able to give prom dresses to needy teenagers in Alamogordo," Penning said. "We donate all our unusable items to the Alamogordo community, and whatever they don't use, goes to Juarez [Mexico] and the four-corners region of the state."

The drop-off area for donated items can be found on the north-west corner of Second St. and Connecticut Ave. The gates to the drop-off area will be open 24/7 and donations should be placed into one of the two brown collection bins.

To help spread the word about the shop's reopening, the Thrift Store is offering a 25 percent discount towards any shopper's entire purchase in August and September for visiting and "liking" the Thrift Store on their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holloman-Thrift-Shop/338772552828586.

For more information on the Thrift Store or the HOSC, visit their Facebook page or contact Dole at carriedole@hotmail.com.