By LAURA PETERSON
BRANDON—On April 14 of 1975, a group of like-minded Brandon women opened a thrift shop in town, the Brandon Thrift Shop, a.k.a. Nifty Thrifty. It began as a consignment shop and opened three days a week with a team of 95 volunteers. The original Steering Committee consisted of Sally Greene, Harriet Davis, Susie Parry, Carol Fowler, Bobbie Torstenson, and Bette Moffett. The shop found a home in the basement of Barnes TV Store, under 22 Center Street. (That is where Blooming Bungalow is now.) The owner, Bill Brooks, said they could use the space for free until they felt they could afford rent, and then they could pay $50 a month. A year later, the Brandon Thrift Shop moved to the upstairs of the town offices, a ‘4-room suite’ which included the former police headquarters and Tom Whittaker’s real estate offices. Entry was by way of the back porch near the hardware store, now Sister Wicked. It was twice the space but twice the rent.
Nifty Thrifty was conceived as a consignment shop, but it also took donations. They were open three days a week (Thurs. 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Fri. 9 p.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-noon) and had three volunteers on duty for each three hour shift. They limited merchandise to “only what two women could carry.” In the newspaper they were referred to as Mrs. John Doe, not Jane Doe. As further evidence that it was a different era, within a month of opening, they hired a cleaner, a manager, and a bookkeeper, and paid a man to audit their books once a year. By the end of their second year, they had $2000 in the bank and had given away $175.
In August of 1980, the thrift shop was on the move again. This time, the move was around the corner to 47 Center Street, between Red Clover Brewery and the door to the upstairs of the Town Office. Neshobe Falls Insurance Agency is in this storefront right now. This space was teeny tiny, but it had a nice front window for display. The hours were extended to five days a week, 10 to 1.
The ’80s might be considered their Glory Days. By the early ’80s, they were averaging a monthly income of $500. They were giving five $200 scholarships to graduating Otter Valley seniors and another $3,400 to community projects like Little League, library summer programming, free movie nights, Children’s Day Care Center, and Brandon Area Arts Council. By 1981, they had given a total of over $10,000 back to the community. They thought they might be able to raise their prices, and they were desperate for new volunteers to handle their thriving business.
Nifty Thrifty moved again in February of ’82, two doors down to the vacated Williams Insurance Agency storefront (41 Center Street) with the bay window. The area is now part of Morningside Bakery.
In 1988, the Brandon Thrift Shop earned $11,622.25 and awarded eight $200 scholarships to Otter Valley seniors. But there, their bubble seemed to burst. Perhaps it was the location. Although the shop was right on Center Street, the space was tiny and dark and never had a properly working toilet, a screened door, or adequate heat. It seems they were in constant debate with the landlord about the heat. They were always cold, but their heating bill was enormous!
By ’91, they only had 17 willing workers, and they discussed how to increase their profits. They needed cash.
Frank Sullivan became their treasurer in 1995, and he told them that the shop had to earn $100 per week just to meet their expenses. While he was the treasurer, the shop met their yearly expenses only because of an unexplained donation that showed up in the annual financial report, which evened things out nicely. For example, in ’96 the shop’s yearly expenses were $5,175 for rent, heat, insurance, electricity, and scholarships, and remarkably, their yearly income was $5,175 because of a $225 donation. Could Frank Sullivan have been underwriting the shop through these lean times?
The few remaining Volunteers went into fund-raising mode, arranging for a Beanie Baby raffle, a dinner with Fred Tuttle from A Man with a Plan, and a raffle for ‘Lunch with Santa.’ They also wrote to New England Woodcraft, Omya, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, and individual donors, asking for donations to support their scholarship program. They could barely scrape together two $200 scholarships at this point.
Dark days followed. They may have thought their 25th Anniversary in 2000 would be their last, but the best was yet to come.
On Sept. 8 of 2004, the Brandon Thrift Shop posted a sign that announced, “Everything is FREE until Dec. 1, 2004.” Jim and Nancy Leary had bought the whole Conant Block, which included the thrift shop, and understandably wanted to bring it up to code, which would mean turning off the heat, water, and electricity while massive repairs were made. Bette Moffett had heard that Liza Myers and Jim Germond had bought the building in whose basement the Brandon Thrift Shop had begun, 22 Center Street, and were moving their art business out of the Briggs Building. Without much fanfare, Nifty Thrifty left 41 Center Street with their desk and their racks and not much else. On Dec. 1 they moved into the Briggs Building (where The Bookstore is now), and on Dec 6 they opened with inventory they had collected since Dec. 1. On that first day, they sold $140 of merchandise, which was about what they had been earning in a WEEK at the previous location.
The Briggs location was bright and open, and Bette made it a priority to lure in younger volunteers. The hours expanded (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), and new policies were put into place about donation filtering and inventory rotation. Afternoon hours one day each week attracted students and working people. The shop became strictly donations, no consignments. They gave up the telephone, the cleaner, the bookkeeper, and joined the Chamber of Commerce. The shop was better advertised and had special sales and themed sales events, like the Mother’s Day Jewelry Sale, the Craft Sale, and for several years running they hosted a Ballgown Boutique to sell donated prom dresses at very affordable prices. The annual scholarship money reached $1,000 apiece for ten Otter Valley graduating seniors.
August 28, 2011 changed everything. Tropical Storm Irene rolled in, and the Briggs Building became an island in the thundering Neshobe River torrent. Although not a drop of flood water came under the door, the shop was unreachable because of the canyons the flood carved out all around the building. Nifty Thrifty was on the move again. This time, the shop found a home in the north end of the Ayrshire Building. Dr. Arden Hayden and Dr. Ben Lawton owned the building and generously gave the shop a reasonable rent for the suite of rooms that fronted onto Union Street. An optometrist had used the space last, and it still had the eyeglasses racks all around the walls of one of the tiny rooms.
This location was convenient, being right across the street from Hannaford and Walgreens, but it was an awkward layout with tiny rooms like a rabbit warren. It was not handicapped accessible, had no dressing room, and the heat was inconsistent.
Since the late ’80s, the shop had focused its contributions on giving money to post-secondary education for Otter Valley seniors only. The recipients’ names were drawn from a hat and announced at the awards night. To receive the $1,000, the awardee had to send Nifty Thrifty their first semester transcript to prove that they had actually attended college or trade school, and then a $1,000 check would be written in their name.
After years of chasing down kids for MONTHS to give them their thousand-dollar check and then never receiving a thank-you note, the Brandon Thrift Shop decided to change directions. They asked themselves, “Is this the best use of our resources? Are we helping our community in the best way possible?” And the answer was no. Encouraged by Bette Moffett’s words—“Welcome change! Seek it out. It’s the only way to remain relevant.” —Nifty Thrifty rebranded itself as Community Benefactor in 2016.
The contributions started as a modest $500 donation each month to community projects, programs, events, activities, organizations, groups, or ideas. Nifty Thrifty wanted to support education, recreation, the arts, commerce, culture, infrastructure, and quality of life for the local community. This felt right! This felt good! Along with giving money to the Food Shelf, the Senior Center, free concerts, the Fourth of July Parade, the after school program, the Toy Project, the Music Fund, Walking Stick Theater, the dog park, OV Senior Banners, etc., Nifty Thrifty scraped together a check for $6,000 to help rebuild the Gazebo in Central Park after Segment 6 came crashing through town.
A year after the Haydens and Lawtons sold the Ayrshire building to a young dentist couple, Drs. Derek and Jillian Snare, Nifty Thrifty got a notice to vacate the premises in 90 days. This was in April 2019. Although it was not entirely a surprise, it was disheartening. At this point, the town of Brandon was looking so good and doing so well that there were no cheap, accessible, and available storefronts available. Once again, Nifty Thrifty had to welcome change and seek it out.
This time, it was St. Thomas & Grace Episcopal Church that stepped up. They had the foresight to think outside the box and turn their unused rectory into a commercial space and rent it to the Brandon Thrift Shop. The rectory is a big, brick house with a long and gracious history. The rooms are airy and bright, there is convenient parking, the heat works, there’s an accessibility ramp, there is room for storage and sorting, and the thrift shop has the same mission as their landlords: to help people. On July 1, 2019, Nifty Thrifty opened in the rectory of the Episcopal Church at 19 Conant Square, its seventh and hopefully permanent location.
Even though the pandemic descended eight months after the shop moved in, the business was doing well enough to give the Brandon Free Public Library $15,000 for their reconstruction a year later. Nifty Thrifty joined the 21st century and now has a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and eBay. They got a new sign and a new logo. The monthly donations have jumped from $500 to sometimes thousands of dollars. Their total give-back to the community in their 50-year history is approaching $400,000. Nifty Thrifty was chosen to be the Grand Marshals in the Fourth of July parade in 2019. The Town of Brandon’s Annual Report was dedicated to Nifty Thrifty a couple of years ago to recognize all they do for their community.
One of the most amazing things is that with all the changes in the past 50 years, the prices at Nifty Thrifty are almost the same! In 1975, a woman’s dress at Nifty Thrifty cost $5, the same as today. Men’s pants were $2.50, today, they are $3. Women’s tops were $2.50, now they are $2. At Nifty Thrifty, children’s clothing in 1975 cost about the same as adult clothing. Today, Nifty Thrifty charges almost nothing: 50¢ to $1.00 for almost everything in the children’s department.
At 50, the Brandon Thrift Shop is in its prime! Business is booming. The shop is warm and welcoming, clean and organized. You can tell the customers and the volunteers are having a great time. Prices are low, stock is always changing, and thrifting is trending at the moment. Besides all that, the community needs a fairy godmother right about now. Cheers to Nifty Thrifty turning fifty!
