New building, same mission for Catholic Social Services thrift store

Originally published on the Augusta Chronicle — July 6, 2020

The thrift store of Catholic Social Services reopened Monday in a new and much larger building off Wrightsboro Road.

What began as a garage sale for Philomena Mooney blossomed Monday into a large, airy new building for Catholic Social Services’ thrift store.

Photo courtesy of The Augusta Chronicle

“Night and day,” said Mooney, the store manager, as she stood in the new building at 3229 Wrightsboro Road and reflected on its previous home, a careworn building on Broad Street.

The new building, which was purchased in March and then renovated, held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting, although dozens of shoppers were already prowling its aisles pushing shopping carts full of clothes, jewelry, books and housewares.

“They were 20-deep this morning” when the store opened, Mooney said.

The new store is roughly double the size of the old building, she said.

“This is basically all new,” Mooney said. “Everything in here has been touched and polished up for us.”

Christie Westbrook of Martinez has been shopping at the thrift store even before it was on Broad Street, when it was housed in an even smaller brick building off Central Avenue. In her shopping cart Monday were pricey brand-name jackets from Patagonia, Columbia, Nike and Adidas that she was picking up for a fraction of their value.

“I’m a single mother, so I try to be very frugal,” she said. “You can’t beat the prices. I couldn’t go to Walmart and pay what I paid for these clothes.”

Westbrook, who is Baptist, likes that the proceeds go to the charity’s missions.

“Their ministry does some great work.” she said.

The point of getting and renovating the new building is furthering that work, said Jerry Baine, who helped coordinate the project.

“God asked us to help those in need,” he said. “This ministry understands that.”

The pandemic has actually benefited the store in terms of donations, Mooney said.

People “were stuck at home and decided it was time to clean things out and get things in order,” she said. But it has also increased the need from people who have lost jobs and wages and need the store’s friendlier prices, she said.

“If you need a new pair of pants, it would be better to come here than go to the mall,” Mooney said.

Jennifer Johns, 18, said she has been shopping at the store ever since her mother took her there as a child.

“They have some really good stuff,” she said.