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From Left to Right: Maureen Smith (3 years); Susan Dolan (Most recent volunteer); Dolly Reeve (16 Years); Inge Gropp (3 Years)
Independent Thrift Shop in Madison Serves the Madison Community and Beyond
Thursday, August 9, 2012 • 5:57am
MADISON, NJ - Seventy years and endless donations later, the Independent Thrift Shop in Madison is still turning one man's trash into another man's treasure.
At its fourth home run solely by volunteers, the not-for-profit store is tucked behind the dry cleaner’s at 33 Kings Road in Madison. They accept all donations, except furniture, and sell everything that comes in. The Independent Thrift Shop also donates all proceeds to a laundry list of charities, including the Madison Public Library, the American Red Cross and the Chatham Emergency Squad.
The shop usually has some type of special sale going on. Their antique sale during the first two weeks of October is their largest fundraiser. Antiques the shop receives are priced at 20 to 30 percent of what they’re worth online, according to volunteer Maureen Smith. “You never know what’s coming in,” she said.
“We price things reasonably,” Smith stated. “So they can make money and people can have things.”
Starting this week, the store will run its end of the season bag sale. Customers get a big brown bag when they walk in and everything they can fit in the bag is sold to them for six dollars.
“We get really good stuff,” Smith said. The brown bag can be filled with clothes, antiques, books, jewelry, handbags, accessories and anything else in the store.
As the holiday season approaches, the store becomes stocked full of Christmas decorations, which are also sold at a steep discount.
During the summer, the store is open 9:30 am and 4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm on Saturdays. If anyone is interested in donating or shopping, they can drop off and purchase items during any store hours.
