New floor for LRAC’s New Life Thrift Shop

It’s been a couple of weeks and Peg Schwarz-Green can’t get over how much better the New Life Thrift Shop looks with its new floor.

Gone is the held-together-with-Duct-tape, decades-old carpet. In its place, said Schwarz-Green, is salmon-colored, room-brightening epoxy flooring that has grit added for traction.

“It’s so much better,” said Schwarz-Green, shop manager. “It just feels clean. It smells clean. Most importantly, it’s a lot easier for shoppers to shop.”

The thrift shop, 34686 Jiffy Way in Lewes, is run by the Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches and brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. All of the money, except for Schwarz-Green’s salary, is spread out among nearly two dozen charities in the local community. Those charities include the Community Resource Center, Jusst Sooup Ministry, The Way Home, Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels.

Schwarz-Green said as part of the reflooring process the shop went through a major reorganization. Men’s and women’s apparel, and kid’s clothing and toys have been separated, she said. Shelving has been added to the walls to allow for an optimal use of space, she added.

“The only thing that didn’t change locations was the linens,” she said laughing, adding there were hitches in the process, but nothing too bad. “All in all, it was worth any of the problems.”

Schwarz-Green said as part of the re-opening celebration, the week of Monday, Aug. 7 – Friday, Aug. 11, the thrift shop will be handing out 60 scratch tickets with dollar amount discounts, ranging from $1 to $50.

“Fifty dollars gets a lot in here,” said Schwarz-Green.

Shoppers will also be able to enter into a raffle to win one of three donated bikes or one of two baskets full of seashells. Schwarz-Green said the drawing will be Monday, Aug. 14.

“It’s a way to say thank you to our customers for having to deal with the reorganizing process,” said Schwarz-Green.

Schwarz-Green said the capital campaign for thrift shop improvements is ongoing. The next big thing that needs to be fixed is the entrance. Right now, the doors open manually and aren’t handicap accessible.

Schwarz-Green said the shop would like to install automatic doors and build a vestibule around the entrance. She said the engineering work hasn’t been done for the new doors, but she’s thinking the project will cost around $20,000 after design, permits and structural work.

New Life Thrift Shop is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. Donations are accepted 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday.

For more information on the New Life Thrift Shop call 302-644-0171 or go to newlifeofdelaware.org.