Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop has a new location
PHOENIXVILLE — Those planning to shop small this holiday season — and make a difference as they do — have another stop to add to their lists: The Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop.
The shop recently moved to a new location, 822 Main St., next to Phoenixville Hospital. For more than 40 years, the thrift shop — run completely by a staff of volunteers — has offered clothing, jewelry, accessories, art, household wares, toys, and much more.
Since it first opened in 1975, the Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop has collected and resold donated clothing and household items — raising $1 million.
Nearly all the proceeds raised have been given back to the Phoenixville community.
The list of Phoenixville area nonprofit recipients includes: Ann’s Heart, the Cancer Center at Phoenixville Hospital, Community Health Education & Outreach at Phoenixville Hospital, Healthcare Access, Mom’s House, Orion Communities Phoenixville Area Community Services, Phoenixville Area Senior Center, Phoenixville Women’s Outreach, St. Mary’s Franciscan Shelter, The Clinic and The Daniel Foundation.
President of the thrift shop, Maggie Silva, noted the shop began with doctors’ wives and a garden group selling items they no longer needed and donated the money back to the hospital.
“We’ve changed where we give the money. We have about eight different charities; they make an application for a grant. We have given over a million dollars away,” Silva said.
“It’s a good cooperative group of women with all the same reasons to be there. And it all goes to a good cause. I think keeping things out of landfills is a big deal. We are doing what we can with the three or four days that we can be open. It helps people who don’t have the money to put an outfit together,” she said.
Silva noted the shortage of volunteers, especially since the COVID pandemic. Volunteers go through a screening process through Phoenixville Hospital.
“We could always use more volunteers and I’m sure the hospital could too,” she said.
New volunteer Barbara Kane began helping the shop in September at the new location. A self-proclaimed “thrift store junkie” Kane wanted to get out and meet people in the community.
“This location is like a gingerbread house. You come in here and it’s magical because of the stained glass windows and high ceilings. It has a charm and a history, and Phoenixville is imbued with history. It just fits right in, and it appeals to the young and the old. The people running it are very recycling conscious. The volunteers here are a gem,” Kane said.
“We aren’t as big as where we were on Church Street, but it’s more boutiquey,” Silva said. “Now we have a room that’s for men. We didn’t have that before. The hospital isn’t far away, and we’ve gotten people coming out of the different medical office buildings, and just out of curiosity, which is always good.” She noted that when the shop’s previous lease expired, the hospital — which pays the shop’s rent — decided to relocate it to the new location, which the hospital owns.
Phoenixville resident Rovina Parmley, has volunteered at the shop for 19 years, following in the footsteps of her mother, who volunteered in the 1970s. Parmley said she enjoys meeting people through her time at the shop.
“The clothing is nice and it’s very inexpensive. They donate the proceeds to all the local charities,” Parmley remarked.
The new location has a long history in the community, dating back to 1910. The three-floor building has served as a nurses’ residence, and in more recent decades it was home to a used bookstore, The Bookworm.
The shop accepts donations of women’s, men’s, children’s clothing and shoes that are in good condition, as well as toys, and housewares. The shop cannot accept dishes and glassware at this time. Silva noted that items failing to sell in the shop are donated to Green Drop, which has several Chester County locations accepting gently used clothing and household goods on behalf of nonprofit and charity partners, https://www.gogreendrop.com/how-it-works
The Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop is open Monday and Friday, 1 to 4 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Follow the Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hospitalthriftshop for updates.
