Angelwood has expanded its reach in hopes of helping even more people in the local community, and they did so by opening a thrift store.
“Right now, there is just a lot of excitement and there’s a buzz surrounding all of this,” Angelwood CEO Diane Tuttle said. “People are bringing a lot of things to us, and a lot of good things so there are plenty of things for people when they come and shop.”
That response is something that Tuttle understands is so vital to the success of not only the thrift store, but also the organization in general, especially as a nonprofit, which means that they are fully reliant on community support to accomplish their mission.
“As a nonprofit we really have to be careful and creative with the money we spend. I bought the clothing racks and the cash registers, but everything else in there was donated by those in the public,” Tuttle said. “That’s a statement that the community is behind us and what we’re doing.”
The thrift store is located at 5711, Suite 3 on Bowden Road in Jacksonville, and it is something that the nonprofit organization, created to serve children, adults and families living with intellectual and developmental differences, had been talking about for some time now.
“It was in 2019 when we had really thought we were going to be able to do it, but then when the pandemic hit that really ended everything because 2020 was a bust and 2021 was all about recovering,” Tuttle said. “It was 2022 when we really started looking at everything and making sure we researched, and our business plan was where we wanted it to be.”
One of the unique aspects of the thrift store is that it will offer a place where its residents can work and be a part of the store’s staff.
According to Tuttle, that was a major reason behind the idea, and the hope is that being part of that work environment and interacting with the public will be incredibly beneficial for both sides.
“They’ll be doing a lot of the work, from sorting clothing to putting things out on the shelves and doing some cleaning,” Tuttle said.
The store just had its grand opening, but already Tuttle has noticed the difference in the amount of people that ask or are now aware of Angelwood because of the thrift store.
“Already the people around are learning more about Angelwood and if we can have more people learn about us and the services we provide, maybe it will help them with their family needs or the needs of friends that they know,” Tuttle said. “The benefits of all this go far beyond the money we raise. It’s a win-win.”
The timing of the grand opening with it coming in the middle of the holiday season, when people are looking for gifts, and the location not far from Interstate-95 could not have been better according to Tuttle.
“We looked at this corner because we had rented an office up on Spring Park (Road) a while back and one of the things we noticed was that this corner was always busy and we really wanted a place that was going to be nicely trafficked,” Tuttle said. “There is a sweet spot between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. where this area is very busy before it kind of tapers off, and that’s also how we set our hours around.”
The thrift store’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and it is closed on Sundays.
