All Saints’ thrift shop to open second location

The Episcopal Parish of All Saints’ Church & St. George’s Chapel thrift shop is opening a second location to better give back to the community.

The new store will be located in the former Beebe Healthcare Treasure Chest thrift shop in the Midway Shopping Center. It is expected to open later this summer.

When the All Saints’ store expands, it will also rebrand to The Parish Thrift Shop to avoid any confusion with the St. George’s Thrift Shop in Millsboro that closed about two years ago.

The All Saints’ store is currently in Rehoboth Beach Plaza on the Forgotten Mile section of Route 1, the third location it’s been over the years. The spaces it occupies used to include an A&P supermarket, a gym and the Rehoboth Beach Post Office. The store is overflowing with donated items from clothes to furniture to books. “We have 15,000 to 18,000 square feet here,” said store manager Joanna Carty. “The new location will be 7,500 square feet. We will have more designer clothes, shoes, better furniture and electronics there.”

“Last year, we gave $220,000 to community outreach,” Carty said. “We expect that to go up next year with the second location.”

The biggest beneficiaries from the shop’s donations are nonprofits like Beebe Healthcare, Community Resource Center, Camp Arrowhead and the Wounded Warrior Project. Carty said about 60 organizations in all benefit. Even though the shop is run by the Episcopal church, 10% of the thrift store’s profits go to churches of all denominations.

The store also has a unique way of getting its volunteers involved. “Every month, we choose 15 of our volunteers and give them $500 to donate to the charity of their choice. Some goes locally, sometimes it goes out of state, and sometimes it goes abroad,” Carty said.

“This wonderful second location gives us the opportunity to reach deeper into our beach and visitor communities as well as offer a potential new diverse thrift shopping experience. Growing our parish thrift presence in the community also allows us to give back more to our local and regional charities,” said Mother Shelly D. McDade, rector of the Episcopal Parish of All Saints’ Church and St. George’s Chapel, who was instrumental in the acquisition of the second location.

“About 30 years ago, this started as a rummage sale in the All Saints’ Parish Hall to benefit Westside New Beginnings,” said Jon Rania, director of music and communications for All Saints’ Parish. “They outgrew the space and the person who was running it went to their pastor and said, ‘We need to have our own retail space,’ and thus it was born.”

Those interested in volunteering or donating merchandise or money may go to the All Saints’ Church and St. George’s Chapel Facebook page or allsaintsandsaintgeorges.org.