LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” quips Sandy Wade as she places two Christmas dolls in front of the Langley Thrift Shop register.
Mrs. Wade is a thrift shop connoisseur.
“You can find the neatest things at a thrift shop.”
She spends her free time browsing over shelves and racks of other people’s stuff.
Today she is purchasing dolls for her daughter who lives in Tennessee. Luckily for Mrs. Wade, her daughter is a collector of such items. Mrs. Wade doesn’t get out west to see her daughter much, so she picks up birthday presents and other gifts when she can.
What she would really like is to find a collection of aluminum tumblers like the ones she had as a child.
“They came in red and gold and cobalt blue,” said the grandmotherly woman, reminiscing with Libby Marks as the dolls were rung up. “They were so nice; they wouldn’t break.”
But the Langley Thrift Shop doesn’t have any and Mrs. Wade’s search will continue.
Mrs. Wade and other customers have kept the Langley Thrift Shop in business since 1980, in its current building that had been reconfigured at that time. But, like other all-volunteer organizations on base, the thrift shop is also in danger of closing.
Due to the lack of volunteers, the thrift shop was unable to accept any new items Friday.
No new items to sell means less profit for the Langley Thrift Shop and less profit means less money that the thrift shop has to give back to the community.
The thrift shop earns a 30 percent commission on each sale. That might not sound like much profit on a $3.25 set of three cassette tapes, featuring Tears for Fears album “Songs from the big chair” (a personal favorite). But with the brisk business that the thrift shop sees, those profits add up quickly.
In 2005, the Langley Thrift Shop Board of Trustees donated nearly $11,500 to local programs like Langley’s Airmen Committed to Excellence and Airmen Against Drunk Driving. The board of trustees has already donated more than $5,000 to local organizations this year.
“This program is a great way to give back to the base,” said Mrs. Marks, Langley Thrift Shop Manager. “It helps out a lot of organizations and it provides an outlet for people to make money to buy other things.
“To lose the thrift shop would hurt a lot of people.”
Thrifty doesn’t mean cheap
Nearly all of the Langley Thrift Shop’s merchandise is high quality goods, clothes and toys. The volunteers don’t accept soiled or damaged goods.
“Much of our merchandise is great items that families just don’t want to pack and take with them when they move,” said Mrs. Marks.
Children’s clothes and toys, furniture, linens and other household items are always in stock.
Why pay the commission?
If a customer wants to sell an item and get back $10 from the sale, the thrift shop sells that piece for $13 so “the customer doesn’t lose a penny and the person buying the item still gets a great deal,” Mrs. Marks said.
Having the thrift shop sell items also eliminates the hassle of phone calls and people dropping by your house when you are trying to sell an item.
“Why put something in the paper or go through the trouble of having a yard sale when we can sell it for you,” said Mrs. Marks.
Whether you are an avid shopper, a thrift store connoisseur or just a person looking for a good deal on a nice item, visit the Langley Thrift Shop.