Brookline's Only Thrift Store Open Just Two Days A Week

Stained glass windows and vaulted stone ceilings may not be the typical backdrop for racks of slightly used dresses and neckties, but Thrifty Threads, Brookline's only thrift store, somehow makes the ensemble work.

An un-used chapel in United Parish Church on Harvard Street is home to the community's only place to find $1 blouses and $5 dresses.

The thrift shop, operated by about 10 church volunteers, is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and sells men's and women's clothing, jewelry, shoes, purses, books and other household items.

"They started it because there was a real need in the community," said Cathy Haddad, United Parish church administrator.

Being Brookline's only thrift store made Thrifty Threads very successful, said Haddad. She said they collect between $6,000 and $8,000 annually despite the extremely low prices, which usually fall somewhere below $5. The profit supports the church and several missions organizations.

Friday morning the shop was operated by 92-year-old Bertha Huppeler and 89-year-old Lena Smith, who kept cool with a half-dozen whirring fans.

Among the many clothes blowing in the fans' breeze were a shiny magenta jogging suit, a white silk dress, and a rack full of screen-printed t-shirts. Green tennis shoes and black rain boots could be found on a shoe rack, and mens' trousers were folded neatly on shelves, next to a pile of purses, almost as if customers had entered someone's home closet.

Huppeler and Smith, both church members, have worked at the shop since it opened in 1996, and hand-pick which items to sell.

Smith, originally from Jamaica, sat by a fan, folding Sunday's bulletins while customers perused the store.

Two years ago, they moved it from the church's basement into the un-used chapel, which offers more light but less room. Thrifty Threads donates whatever merchandise they do not to sell to charity.

Huppeler, a Brookline native, kept track of customers' purchases with a cash box and notepad. She said she enjoys seeing regular customers, like Karen Healey who brings her elderly mother.

"That yellow sign that attracts you," Healy said, referring to the Thrifty Threads sign on the United Parish lawn.

After browsing the racks, Healey bought two dresses, a skirt and a purse for $7.50, but Smith gave it to her for $7. Haddad said the volunteers refuse to charge more for items.

"It was more important to them to make it accessible to the community," Haddad said.

Healey said she often finds hardly worn pairs of shoes, but the purses are harder to snag. 

"I never find pocketbooks, they always go so fast," she said.

Huppeler said items sell faster during the school year when students are in town and families are back from vacation. Thrifty Threads will be closed in August due to the heat in the un-airconditioned parish, so currently most merchandise is half price.