LANSDOWNE — The Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization’s thrift store at 19 S. Lansdowne Ave. has literally rose from the ashes to reopen and rebrand itself as The Thrift Shop on the Avenue.
Owned by the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization in Swarthmore, and staffed by the New Options Program at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit in Morton, the nonprofit Thrift Shop on the Avenue has been offering customers an array of household goods, clothing, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, electronics, small accent furniture, jewelry, small appliances, and more, all at rock-bottom bargain prices, for over 50 years. The Thrift Shop is not only a community asset, giving local residents a convenient and low-cost shopping option, but it is also a work training site for Delaware County students transitioning out of high school and into their community’s work force.
The Thrift Shop is managed by the DCIU Options/ Transition Services, a person-centered program providing opportunities in the community for local students to develop the necessary skills, habits, and attitudes for employment, travel and daily living skills.
Proceeds from the thrift store benefit the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization, formerly the ARC of Delaware County, a non-profit organization that has been advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1956.
Historically, the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization has played a vital leadership role in securing civil rights and community inclusion for all persons with intellectual and related disabilities, including the right to education, workplace accommodation and community living. Today, the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization is the premier advocacy organization for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.
The thrift store, which has always benefitted the lives of those with intellectual disabilities, originally opened in the early 1970s, across the street from its current location, in another section of Lansdowne Avenue. The store was a new venture for, what at the time, was the Delaware County Association for Retarded Citizens. The organization eventually became known as DelArc, and then The Arc of Delaware County, eventually morphing into the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization, which it remains today.
When the store originally opened, it was staffed and run by mothers of ARC members. Each year, the mothers held a big fashion show fundraising event that supported the annual operations of the Thrift Store.
In the early 1990s, the Thrift Store moved to its current location of 19 S. Lansdowne Ave. Shortly after the relocation, The Arc partnered with the Delaware County Intermediate Unit to make the store a job training site. Since that day, students, learning skills for long-term employment under the guidance of the DCIU New Options/Transition to Work professional trainers, make up the working staff of the store.
Currently training nine students, ages 18-21, DCIU New Options Site Trainers Joan Steven and Brian Jennings oversee about 2-4 students training at the shop each day. There is a site trainer on premises at all time.
Steven, a Drexel Hill resident, has been training students at the shop for 12 years.
“I love working in this store and I especially like working with the students,” Steven said. “My role is very rewarding because I get to see them picking up the job skills and then working independently with the customers.”
Three of the nine student trainees draw a paycheck for their work, thanks to a grant secured through DCARO. Students learn to perform the tasks that an employee would normally do like vacuuming, sweeping, sorting donations, arranging clothing on racks and items on shelves, cleaning and dusting counters and windows, changing window displays, pricing, working the cash register, taking out trash, helping people bring in donations from their vehicles, doing seasonal changeovers in the shop, removing empty hangers from racks and more.
“We are servicing, supporting, and training students all over Delaware County to enrich their lives and provide a gateway of opportunities for the next chapter of their lives,” explained Lisa Muss, DCIU Options Program Site Coordinator. “In addition to living by the motto of ‘Reduce, Recycle, Repeat’ and providing this important resource to the community, the thrift shop actually helps students’ career future by teaching skill sets for gainful employment.”
Muss, a resident of Media, oversees job training for DCIU students, as well as seven job trainers, at multiple sites throughout Delaware County, including the Thrift Shop on the Avenue, Boeing, Millers Ale House, Giant, Morton Post Office, Villanova, YMCA, Acme, Goodwill in Upper Darby and Swarthmore and many more.
The store, which is leased from Deborah Whitehead, was destroyed in a fire on Dec. 7, 2020, but reopened, after extensive renovations, in November 2021. DCARO updated the store with new lighting, new walls and ceilings, paint, carpets, and a donation prepping station with sinks in the back of the store. Although the shop is shining new with recent renovations, the Thrift Shop on the Avenue kept its same signature, recognizable storefront on Lansdowne Avenue. DCARO pays the rent and insurance for the shop, while the DCIU pays electric and phone bills.
The staff at the shop is grateful for donations and accepts men, women, and children’s clothing, shoes and accessories, as well as housewares, toys, books and CDs, small furniture, jewelry, seasonal décor, small working appliances and other electronics, books and other items. In addition to store inventory, the shop is also always grateful for donations of hangers, racks, mannequins, tools, bins, and shelving. Store staff said donations were scarce during the pandemic, so they hope that will change now that the community has mostly returned to normal.
Donations can be brought to the store during regular business hours. So far, word has spread through word of mouth that the store is open and accepting donations. Donations can be brought to the front or back door, but should not be left outside or they will be ruined in inclement weather.
The Thrift Shop on the Avenue attracts shoppers who believe in its mission, as well as many neighborhood shoppers who come on foot, or by train or bus since the shop conveniently sits on well-traveled Lansdowne Avenue. “The regulars” come by the store weekly, always seeking new inventory. The store has an off-street municipal parking lot in the back, as well as metered parking on its front and side street.
“I stop by the store at least twice a month,” explained customer Camille Canada of West Philadelphia, as she browsed the merchandise in the shop last week. She said she has been a customer there for at least a dozen years.
“They have clean clothes in good condition here, nice books and games, and I bought a radio here once that I really like and still use,” Canada commented as she perused the book selections and chose one about the president to purchase.
“I especially like their prices here,” she added with a knowing smile, as she stood at the counter, with an arm full of items, ready to pay.
Throughout the year, the Thrift Shop on the Avenue holds sales, including a stuff-a-bag sale at the end of each season. The store accepts only cash. Staff is happy to answer phone inquiries when customers call to ask if the shop has certain items before they come into the store.
“We welcome the public to stop by and see what we have to offer, as well as meet the young men and women being trained here at the shop” stated DCARO Executive Director Eileen MacDonald. “DCARO is committed to continuing to provide these job training opportunities, administered by the DCIU, for the benefit of our young individuals living with intellectual disabilities in Delaware County. We are proud to partner with DCIU on this very important endeavor.”
Thrift Shop on The Avenue is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. Beginning May 7, the shop will be open Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, follow “Thrift Shop on the Avenue” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, call 267-874-8208 or e-mail [email protected] or Lisa Muss at [email protected] or visit https://www.dciu.org/Page/728. For more information on the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Center, visit https://www.delcoadvocacy.org.
Owned by the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization in Swarthmore, and staffed by the New Options Program at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit in Morton, the nonprofit Thrift Shop on the Avenue has been offering customers an array of household goods, clothing, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, electronics, small accent furniture, jewelry, small appliances, and more, all at rock-bottom bargain prices, for over 50 years. The Thrift Shop is not only a community asset, giving local residents a convenient and low-cost shopping option, but it is also a work training site for Delaware County students transitioning out of high school and into their community’s work force.
The Thrift Shop is managed by the DCIU Options/ Transition Services, a person-centered program providing opportunities in the community for local students to develop the necessary skills, habits, and attitudes for employment, travel and daily living skills.
Proceeds from the thrift store benefit the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization, formerly the ARC of Delaware County, a non-profit organization that has been advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1956.
Historically, the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization has played a vital leadership role in securing civil rights and community inclusion for all persons with intellectual and related disabilities, including the right to education, workplace accommodation and community living. Today, the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization is the premier advocacy organization for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.
The thrift store, which has always benefitted the lives of those with intellectual disabilities, originally opened in the early 1970s, across the street from its current location, in another section of Lansdowne Avenue. The store was a new venture for, what at the time, was the Delaware County Association for Retarded Citizens. The organization eventually became known as DelArc, and then The Arc of Delaware County, eventually morphing into the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Organization, which it remains today.
When the store originally opened, it was staffed and run by mothers of ARC members. Each year, the mothers held a big fashion show fundraising event that supported the annual operations of the Thrift Store.
In the early 1990s, the Thrift Store moved to its current location of 19 S. Lansdowne Ave. Shortly after the relocation, The Arc partnered with the Delaware County Intermediate Unit to make the store a job training site. Since that day, students, learning skills for long-term employment under the guidance of the DCIU New Options/Transition to Work professional trainers, make up the working staff of the store.
Currently training nine students, ages 18-21, DCIU New Options Site Trainers Joan Steven and Brian Jennings oversee about 2-4 students training at the shop each day. There is a site trainer on premises at all time.
Steven, a Drexel Hill resident, has been training students at the shop for 12 years.
“I love working in this store and I especially like working with the students,” Steven said. “My role is very rewarding because I get to see them picking up the job skills and then working independently with the customers.”
Three of the nine student trainees draw a paycheck for their work, thanks to a grant secured through DCARO. Students learn to perform the tasks that an employee would normally do like vacuuming, sweeping, sorting donations, arranging clothing on racks and items on shelves, cleaning and dusting counters and windows, changing window displays, pricing, working the cash register, taking out trash, helping people bring in donations from their vehicles, doing seasonal changeovers in the shop, removing empty hangers from racks and more.
“We are servicing, supporting, and training students all over Delaware County to enrich their lives and provide a gateway of opportunities for the next chapter of their lives,” explained Lisa Muss, DCIU Options Program Site Coordinator. “In addition to living by the motto of ‘Reduce, Recycle, Repeat’ and providing this important resource to the community, the thrift shop actually helps students’ career future by teaching skill sets for gainful employment.”
Muss, a resident of Media, oversees job training for DCIU students, as well as seven job trainers, at multiple sites throughout Delaware County, including the Thrift Shop on the Avenue, Boeing, Millers Ale House, Giant, Morton Post Office, Villanova, YMCA, Acme, Goodwill in Upper Darby and Swarthmore and many more.
The store, which is leased from Deborah Whitehead, was destroyed in a fire on Dec. 7, 2020, but reopened, after extensive renovations, in November 2021. DCARO updated the store with new lighting, new walls and ceilings, paint, carpets, and a donation prepping station with sinks in the back of the store. Although the shop is shining new with recent renovations, the Thrift Shop on the Avenue kept its same signature, recognizable storefront on Lansdowne Avenue. DCARO pays the rent and insurance for the shop, while the DCIU pays electric and phone bills.
The staff at the shop is grateful for donations and accepts men, women, and children’s clothing, shoes and accessories, as well as housewares, toys, books and CDs, small furniture, jewelry, seasonal décor, small working appliances and other electronics, books and other items. In addition to store inventory, the shop is also always grateful for donations of hangers, racks, mannequins, tools, bins, and shelving. Store staff said donations were scarce during the pandemic, so they hope that will change now that the community has mostly returned to normal.
Donations can be brought to the store during regular business hours. So far, word has spread through word of mouth that the store is open and accepting donations. Donations can be brought to the front or back door, but should not be left outside or they will be ruined in inclement weather.
The Thrift Shop on the Avenue attracts shoppers who believe in its mission, as well as many neighborhood shoppers who come on foot, or by train or bus since the shop conveniently sits on well-traveled Lansdowne Avenue. “The regulars” come by the store weekly, always seeking new inventory. The store has an off-street municipal parking lot in the back, as well as metered parking on its front and side street.
“I stop by the store at least twice a month,” explained customer Camille Canada of West Philadelphia, as she browsed the merchandise in the shop last week. She said she has been a customer there for at least a dozen years.
“They have clean clothes in good condition here, nice books and games, and I bought a radio here once that I really like and still use,” Canada commented as she perused the book selections and chose one about the president to purchase.
“I especially like their prices here,” she added with a knowing smile, as she stood at the counter, with an arm full of items, ready to pay.
Throughout the year, the Thrift Shop on the Avenue holds sales, including a stuff-a-bag sale at the end of each season. The store accepts only cash. Staff is happy to answer phone inquiries when customers call to ask if the shop has certain items before they come into the store.
“We welcome the public to stop by and see what we have to offer, as well as meet the young men and women being trained here at the shop” stated DCARO Executive Director Eileen MacDonald. “DCARO is committed to continuing to provide these job training opportunities, administered by the DCIU, for the benefit of our young individuals living with intellectual disabilities in Delaware County. We are proud to partner with DCIU on this very important endeavor.”
Thrift Shop on The Avenue is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. Beginning May 7, the shop will be open Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, follow “Thrift Shop on the Avenue” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, call 267-874-8208 or e-mail [email protected] or Lisa Muss at [email protected] or visit https://www.dciu.org/Page/728. For more information on the Delaware County Advocacy & Resource Center, visit https://www.delcoadvocacy.org.