Do We Need A Thrift Store in Talent?
Yes. I mean first of all Worthwhile is so much more than a thrift store, but also have you been to Goodwill lately? And three, yes.
Tammy Wilder
Nov 8, 2024
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The first and current iteration of the Mercantile is a wonderful little booth of cool, quirky and inexpensive next-hand clothing, shoes, and home decor located in the Ashland Artisan Emporium.
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All proceeds from sales go directly to supporting Worthwhile Talent programs. Eventually we will have our own shop in Talent but until then, we're open for business! (And taking your clothing donations)
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Worthwhile Mercantile is a soon-to-be
Non-Profit Thrift Store
& Community Exchange
in Talent, Oregon
The purpose of the Worthwhile Mercantile is to bring more low and no-cost goods to Talent while providing a supportive, constructive space for relationship building and service-oriented activities that benefit lower-income residents.
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Worthwhile Mercantile will be what you might call a Thrift Store Plus: Affordable used clothes, shoes, bedding and decor PLUS a warm, welcoming environment where Talentonians will find opportunities to connect with their neighbors and get some of what they need beyond the survival basics.
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We've got the vision, the ideas, the motivation, and the skill set to be able to open this secondhand shop and make it a success. We even have the inventory and plenty of volunteer support in the queue. What we don't have? A standalone storefront. And that part is kind of important if we want to have a real headquarters for community connections, in addition to the clothes.
While we want to turn our sweet secondhand exchange shop idea into a reality sooner rather than later because we truly believe this community very much needs this right now, currently we're focusing on what we can do RIGHT NOW for our neighbors in Talent. Which means getting started on a few smaller programs (like the Community Exchange, the Pantry Initiative, and the Period Dignity Project) that can make a difference even without the full Worthwhile storefront up and running.
If you know about any commercial space opening up in Talent, we would absolutely love to hear about it.
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Seeking: One Storefront
Remember thrift stores in the 90's?
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The clothes were super cheap, the shop smelled like coffee and basement, the mishmash of racks were full of stuff you would never wear - but you could easily find an absolute treasure of a sweater for $1. Yeah that's what we're going for.
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Not Boutique. Not Vintage. Not Retro. Not $18.95 for a t-shirt.
Just affordable used clothes and the most random home decor.
But we need help finding
a location
If you have any leads or ideas about where the Mercantile can operate in or near downtown Talent please let us know!
We're not looking for big or fancy or new, just a place to sell some used stuff and have a big bulletin board and a little office. An old house near downtown that is/can be zoned commercial would be the most ideal vibe, but we are very open to all possibilities. It's gonna to take just the right place at just the right time for this to happen, but it will!
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