New to You Thrift Shop
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Seven years after the 1918 Spanish Flu, UCRP [formerly known as Rogers Park Congregational Church] building burnt down to the ground.
Two years later, in 1927, a new building was built with three storefronts on its Morse Avenue side. Two of the stores were rented out to help bring in supplement income. The last storefront by the alley was too small to find a renter. In November 1927, the church’s Women Society open a thrift shop in this spot. The space was so small that “4 customers was a crowd.”
For 93 years, New to You has been operating as a mission to the Rogers Park community. While its name is newer than its years of operation, its mission has always been clear.
Studies show that the average American tosses out 81 pounds of clothing every year. Add all that up and it can be equivalent to 26 billion pounds of textiles that end up in landfills all over the United States. New to You Thrift Shop helps reduce textile waste because the clothing gets recycled by allowing someone else to buy it.
Nonetheless, its mission has expanded by creating community within community. During the temporary closing of the store last February 2021, people still came by knocking on the windows when seeing the volunteers working in the shop cleaning and sorting. After a man’s knock was told the store was closed, he replied, “You need to be open. It’s good for the neighborhood.” And he is correct.
The community that is base from this small shop is not just the volunteers that work there, it also includes the people living in the surrounding of the shop seeking company. One volunteer said that “people get hooked not by the items sold, but by the connections with the people within the shop. It’s a happy place.”
“You need to be open. It’s good for the neighborhood.”
After a 4-month break, New to You will be reopening on Tuesday 1 June at 10:00 am. It is ironic the 93-year history of this shop use to be closed during the months of July and August [from 1927 to 1940s since the volunteer’s children were home during their school’s summer break]. Since 1950s, New to You has been mostly open all year round.
The shop will be open on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
The shop could not reopen without its volunteers hard work. A big thanks goes to:
Ruth Bauer Sharon Kaiser Teresa Roll
Sherman Brown Sally Doubet-King Phyllis Tholin
David Carroll Randall Doubet-King Carol Thompson
Mary Cross Joey Lenti Kevin Thompson
Kate Hemmingway Chance Lowe Pat Williams
Ron Johnson Judith Muench Stacy White
Edvette Jones Ian Perez