The Brandon MCC Thrift Shop is celebrating their 30th Anniversary at the Pacific Avenue location, beginning September 1st.  Manager, Shelly Burrows, said they have lots of fun incentives to bring in shoppers throughout the next 3 months; everything from rolling a dice on Wacky Wednesday to staying open on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday till 8pm.

Burrows has been with the Brandon MCC Thrift Store since 2010 and says there have been numerous changes over the past 6 years, including helping out the local community of Brandon on a regular basis, and in a variety of ways.  

In the last 30 years, the Brandon MCC Thrift Shop gave over $2,500,000 to MCC.  When Shelly Burrows started in 2010 the average daily sales income was about $600 a day and now its approximately $1278 per day.  “So, we’ve more than doubled from 6 years ago,” she said. “We can now evaluate with a point-of-sale system; what is selling and what doesn’t sell.  We now put out things that are of use to the community.  We now know what our market wants and that is something we had to guess about before.  So, we’re able to use that kind of data. Plus the rotational system that we have now; we rotate everything in the store and not just clothes.”

Volunteers are a huge factor in the operating of any thrift store.  The Brandon Thrift Shop is no different.  In fact, they currently have just over 170 volunteers and are still in need of more.  Having the store open the evenings of Tuesday to Thursday will hopefully accommodate those volunteers who would like to give of their time but have not been able to due to job and previous commitments.

Burrows speaks to how one very special volunteer helps her in an invaluable way, and how he is the perfect example of how every volunteer is so very important to the operation, and ultimately the success, of the Brandon MCC Store.

Just over 50% of their profits go to MCC Manitoba to help projects in 63 countries, as well as locally. Currently there are some 670 projects across the globe to help communities with clean drinking water projects, education programs, teacher training programs, conflict resolution, and emergency food assistance.

 “And that’s one of the things I like about MCC,” said Burrows. When they go in to help somebody it doesn’t just help them temporarily during their disaster.  It teaches them how to go on when we leave and they’re equipped, so that when we leave the area they can thrive even better than they did before.”

Additionally, the thrift shop helps out other local groups such as Samaritan House, Youth for Christ and Teen Challenge, to raise money for their causes.
 
The Brandon MCC Thrift Shop accepts all sorts of donations, from clothing to furniture to toys and more!  Burrows reminds us to be mindful of the items we donate, and to donate goods that are not chipped, cracked or broken.  She adds they can’t receive liquid items of any kind such as shampoos, perfumes, etc.  Also, items for children must have warning labels in both English and French languages.

The Brandon MCC Thrift Shop is located at 414 Pacific Avenue, Brandon.  For more information on how you can be a volunteer, contact Manager, Shelly Burrows at (204) 727-1162.

The store will be open Monday to Saturday 10:00 am-4:30 pm with extended hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings till 8pm.