ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Carpenter’s Place, which provides services to the homeless, is planning to open a second retail thrift store in Rockford.
The new Carpenter’s Corner location is set to open in the Alpine Village Shopping Center.
Kelly Whitman, director of retail for Carpenter’s Place, said the overwhelming amount of donations the organization received at its original thrift store, at Rural and Prospect, led to the need for a second store.
The new location is about 10,000 feet smaller than the first location, which was built inside a former Hilander grocery store.
“We do have a criteria that we were looking for, a place that would draw natural traffic, unlike our other store,” Whitman said. “This is near Starbucks, Dollar General, McDonalds, a big intersection (Alpine Road and Harrison Avenue). So, it will be different than our other store.”
Carpenter’s Corner said the store is already staffed, but it is looking for volunteers to help bring the store to life.
“As you can see, we have a big empty building, so we need to build close to 150 fixtures. So, we’re hoping to have volunteers to do that,” Whitman said. “Once we get all the fixtures done, then we can start putting about 30,000 pieces of our product on our sales floor, in order to open the store.”
Everything Carpenter’s Corner sells is donated by the local community.
“It was a little overwhelming,” Whitman said. “I honestly did not think that, in two years, we would be opening a second store due to donation flow. But, Carpenter’s Place gets so much support from Rockford and the surrounding community, it’s overwhelming, but its fabulous. What a great place to be in.”
An official opening date for the new store has not been announced.
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