VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — You can once again search through racks of hidden treasures at JCOC Community Thrift off of South Plaza Trail in Virginia Beach.
The store’s owner and operator, Lisa Engelhardt said that the months they were closed were extremely tough.
“We didn’t know if we were going to survive, we still don’t know if we’re going to survive,” said Engelhardt.
Her saving grace, she says, was her landlords from Runnymede Corporation who worked with her to get through this.
Engelhardt says donations have spiked as people have been cleaning out their homes with all this extra downtime, even before the shop could reopen.
“When all this started, everybody is saying ‘well I can’t clean anymore.’ So, people started dropping donations off and we weren’t open so they’d either get wet, or people would steal them. We’d have people rummaging through them and dumping them everywhere. A lot of the thrift stores had to stop and say ‘we aren’t taking donations at all,'” she explained.
When it comes to shoppers, she said her store has been pretty busy but she needs it to stay this way in order for her doors to stay open.
“It was touch and go there for a while; we’ve really picked up. Which has been really good, and we’ve had a lot of support,” Engelhardt said.
She said that so far, shoppers have not been hesitant to come into the building. Those who have come in were not worried about used goods and spreading COVID-19.
An employee at the front of the store makes sure everyone who comes in has a mask and sanitizes.
Plus, they periodically clean and Lysol all the items in the store.
Engelhardt says they have come a long way since the virus started spreading, but there were a lot of challenges and they are not in the clear yet.
“If it tapers off, we’re back to nothing and then you know it’s going to be a hard decision. But that was the biggest thing. Thankfully, Runnymede stepped in and they really, really helped us out,” she said.
The store is also having a big sale this weekend to encourage buyers to come in so her business can stay open.
