Thrift stores often come with a feeling of nostalgia, as people donate unwanted goods that hopefully find a home with a delighted new owner.
With the smell of fresh paint in the air, and the new parking lot reflecting the summer heat Wednesday, the Goodwill store in Concord had a feeling all its own.
“This one is very clean, open, bright,” Jaclyn Leduc, 22, of Goffstown said. “A good layout, I would say, because sometimes it’s a little chaotic. This one’s definitely very clean.”
That’s because the Goodwill store on Loudon Road recently reopened after a serious renovation gave the store new life.
“I grew up shopping in the Concord store, and it really needed it,” said Heather Steeves, spokesperson for Northern New England Goodwill.
The store recently had its bathrooms, walls and furniture renovated, according to Steeves. The renovation is actually a rarity among Goodwill stores, she said, because most Goodwill properties are rented, limiting what they can do. But the company owns the property at the Concord location, which let the renovation effort focus on features rather than red tape.
“We really worked to improve the parking, especially handicap parking, because a lot of what we do is disability services,” Steeves said.
Goodwill stores are also well-known for helping the community with jobs for people in need. Grante State operations employ 361 people, 33 of them at the Concord store, which saw saw 134,000 transactions last year.
But for most shoppers, Goodwill stores offer a piece of the past with a very modest price tag.
“I just love thrift shopping,” said Jaqui Mulvey, 25, of Henniker. Mulvey said she “pretty regularly” goes thrift shopping. On Wednesday, she was looking for some more work clothes.
“I saw them working on it,” Mulvey said, talking about the renovations. “The other day I came in and there was just a dirt parking lot.” For Mulvey, the most enjoyable part of thrift shopping is finding unique items, like the “extra large beach tent” she picked up earlier this week.
Leduc and Christian Lazzari of Deering recently moved into their new apartment. Like anyone moving to a new space, furniture is a necessity, and the 22-year-olds were on the hunt for deals.
The need brought the couple to their first visit to the Loudon Road location Tuesday.
“Just (looking) for stuff we can refinish and repurpose,” Lazzari said.
The two were looking at an old, wooden school desk painted an off-red color. They had some ideas for it.
“We were looking at this old school desk thinking about painting it, sanding it down,” Leduc said. “We’re trying to figure out what we could use it, for but it’s really cool. I like the old look of it.”
The store had tons of clothing on hand, neatly placed in long rows and organized by gender and age. The middle section contains some shelves with random assorted items like children’s toys, pool supplies and home goods. The back wall has a furniture section and more shelves with assorted goods.
Rita Calkins, 59, of Concord was sorting through the items on the back shelf, holding a few rubber stamps in one hand. She’s retired, and watched the work being done on the renovations.
“I’m really just browsing, looking for little crafty things,” she said as she showed off her finds. In retirement and on a limited income, Calkins said “the price is right” at Goodwill.
Before the renovations, Calkins said she didn’t visit Goodwill as much as she intends to now. Citing the vast amounts of clothing, the old “crafty things” she was looking for and the philosophy of reusing and recycling, she was very pleased with the new store. Now, Calkins said, she visits three or four times a month.
The Concord store will be celebrating the renovations with a grand reopening event this Friday.
Other Goodwill stores located throughout New Hampshire are found in Belmont, Seabrook, Hudson, Somersworth, Portsmouth, Manchester, Hooksett, Derry and Amherst.
(Jacob Dawson can be reached at 272-6414 ext. 8325, jdawson@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @jaked156.)