Centre County thrift stores reopen to flurry of donations, changes for customers

For many, stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus led to a spring cleaning frenzy, and now many of the gently-used items from those efforts have landed in local donation centers.

Donation centers and thrift stores in Centre County began reopening on May 8th, when the county moved from the “red phase” to the “yellow phase.” But precautions now in place for customers, staff and donated goods make the shopping and donating experience much different than the pre-pandemic world.

Store changes include limiting the number of customers, enforcing social distancing and frequent sanitizing, while behind the scenes, donated items are subject to a quarantine period before they’re handled and cleaned.

At FaithCentre in Bellefonte, thrift store hours are now limited — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday — but sales have been steady, FaithCentre Executive Director Nicole Summers said.

And when it comes to donations, Summers said an increase was expected upon reopening, but they are now struggling to keep up with the vast amount of bags and donated items.

“We are rapidly running out of space,” she said. “We are thankful for all the donations ... we just are struggling to keep pace.”

Summers asks that people taper their donations — instead of bringing several bags, for example, bring just one.

“Everything has to be set down and left for a couple of days before we can process it,” Summers said. “We have a limited amount of space.”

The thrift store is one of the major sources of funding for all of the charitable ventures that FaithCentre runs, including the food bank.

“People are looking for a place to shop someplace other than a grocery store,” Summers said. “Thrift stores are a fun place to visit without spending a bunch of money.”

Habitat for Humanity Restore of Greater Centre County in Bellefonte also reopened on May 8th with new hours — sales from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and Saturday and donations by appointment only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

Stephanie Fost, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Centre County executive director, said that 9-10 a.m. every Friday is a reserved time for “high risk” customers to shop.

Other precautions include hourly hand-washing for staff, social distancing, added signage in the store, required masking, plexiglass registers and tape markers inside and outside the store.

“We decided that we wouldn’t be able to handle even 50% capacity,” Fost said. “We’re having customers take numbers (to keep track of how many are in the store at one time).”

All donated items are quarantined for 72 hours before they’re cleaned with a hospital-grade sanitizer approved to kill COVID-19, and Fost said Restore also has a state license for sanitizing upholstered furniture.

“Our customers and donors have been incredibly patient and understanding,” Fost said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the kindhearted nature of our community.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in State College plans to reopen its thrift store in the next few weeks with similar safety precautions in place. Those include only accepting credit cards, an entering/exiting strategy, limiting the number of people in the store and quarantining all donated items for one week.

Janet Haner, the thrift store manager, said they haven’t reopened yet because most of their 140 volunteers are in the “high-risk category by age.”

While the thrift store is closed, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul continues to provide financial help to those in need and is accepting monetary donations. Bill Haner, the organization’s treasurer, said the society relies on the income from the store to assist about 100-150 adults and children in need each month.

“We’re an integral part of the safety net in the community and the thrift store is the engine,” Bill Haner said.

Goodwill stores in State College and Philipsburg have also reopened, with changes including closure of dressing rooms and restrooms, touchless payment options available and senior citizen dedicated shopping hours from 9-10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. For more information, visit https://goodwillinc.org/.

This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 7:58 AM.