Thrift LOVE

Nashville Highway thrift store planning a 'pretty big expansion'

"On our first day, we started taking donations, and it was as if we had been here 15 years. That was three-and-half years ago," begins Gina Russell, founder of thriftLOVE, on how the local community has embraced her non-profit thrift store, which serves the special needs community via sustainable mentored employment.

"We hire people with disabilities or limited skill sets and give them a job, so they can tap into their talents and be contributors," elaborates Russell. "We have 17 individuals on our staff that are classified as having some sort of special need. Two are full-timers, and the rest are part-time." 

Notably, thriftLOVE does more than simply offer a competitive wage, proper training, and a good working environment.

"When we bring (new workers) in, we pair them with a mentor and try them in different areas. We try to tap into where their strengths are," adds Russell, a mother of two whose oldest son was born with Down syndrome. 

She says most of their staff members are "pretty independent" and work with a supervisor nearby. Others need more hands-on coaching and directing, and those individuals have a volunteer who works alongside them during their shifts. 

"We have a dozen volunteers on our staff, and we could not operate without them. They help us keep our payroll costs down," says Russell, before indicating that the store is looking to add volunteers, who can apply online at thriftlove.org, or come by the store and fill out an application.

But it's the special needs employees—most of whom are in their 20s or 30s—who do most of the work. That includes taking in items donated by customers, cleaning them, and getting them "freshened up" for the sales floor. Other staffers sort and hang clothes. Still others—those who love to organize—keep the sales floor organized by size and color.

"They are all great; they are all so individual," says Russell. "I always say the 'LOVE' in our logo is large because that's the largest part of the job. It's about loving on them and making them realize they are important and part of the success of the store. We make sure they are treated well and cared for and not set up for failure."

To that end, Russell and the store's volunteers try to maintain personal relationships with the employees that go beyond work. That includes having individual conversations with them while also encouraging them to pursue outside interests, side gigs, and creative endeavors. For example, one employee makes scarves, and another makes jewelry—the store being a place where their creations can be sold.

"Another thing we do is we have regular after-hours social time with them," explains Russell. "We recently had our quarterly staff appreciation dinner. The store provided dinner, and we had a private room at Puckett's, and we just enjoyed each other without having work in front of us."

That said, it's perhaps no surprise that thiftLOVE has extraordinarily low staff turnover—and 28 individuals with pending job applications. 

"The only way to get anyone new on is through a physical expansion," says Russell.

So it's fortuitous that thiftLOVE is planning a "pretty big expansion" later this year, growing the sales floor from 3,500 square feet to 5,500 square feet, which will provide the added room to enable a better shopping experience. It will also allow the store to have more products on the sales floor. That means more household décor, not to mention more clothing, kitchen gadgets, baby toys, baby equipment, shoes, purses, accessories, jewelry, etc. 

"We try to create a nice re-sale shopping environment because many thrift stores can be junky and unorganized. We try hard to give people a great place to come and shop and find great treasures at a great value," says Russell, who describes her work as an obedience to a calling. 

"The Lord put it on my heart that I am meant to do this," she says, which is why she can hardly imagine living or working anywhere else, having relocated to Columbia from Memphis 15 years ago.

"I love the small-town feel," she concludes. "My family lives right off the square, and I love being able to walk downtown for events and to stores and restaurants. I love how Columbia is growing—booming, actually—and being a part of that."

CONTACT:

thriftLOVE

1116 Nashville Highway 

Ste. 101

Columbia, TN 38401

931-374-6754