Iconic South Congress Thrift Store Soon To Close

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- Officials at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul thrift store on South Congess have confirmed what patrons have known for months: They’re packing up soon to relocate to a North Austin location later this year.

The Austin American-Statesman filed a report on the imminent move, positing it as part of an exodus of area nonprofits and businesses headed to areas of the city where the rent might be cheaper.

But in past conversations with workers and managers at the popular and eclectic store at 1327 S. Congress, a sale has been in the works for many months dating to last year.

The main theme of those conversations has been that a significant amount of money was offered for the store’s prized site--a huge space smack in the middle of a well-attended retail corridor dotted with shops and restaurants along what is locally dubbed as the SoCo district for its main South Congress artery.

Space along the strip has been consistently snapped up by commercial developers taking note of the brisk business activity along the retail corridor, often displacing established businesses for updated ones. A Torchy’s restaurant a stone’s throw away recently opened on Jan. 18 on a lot formerly occupied by a member of the retail old guard.

On the same side of the street as the thrift store, the South Congress, an 83-room boutique hotel (appropriately dubbed the South Congress Hotel), opened in the last few months. It’s an impressive use of space in a cramped corridor, with a rooftop pool overlooking downtown Austin, three restaurants, event space and retail shops.

For their part, thrift store operators plan to open a new site at 901 W. Braker Lane. A converted grocery store building that will house the store’s retail space, offices, donation processing and intake center, warehouse, coffee shop and deli. All told, the space will cover 25,000 feet.

“We’d definitely outgrown the space on South Congress (Avenue) and are moving into a space that’s almost three times a big,” Stacy Ehrlich, the society’s executive director, told the Statesman.

“Another main factor is that South Congress has become so gentrified that the folks we were seeing back in the ’80s are not there anymore, so we’re moving to an area of town that seemed to benefit the population of our clientele,”

That gentrification is what fueled the move, some employees of the store have confided in past conversations. The expansive, two-story site housing the thrift store is a coveted piece of real estate in an amenity-lined corridor popular with natives and tourists alike. Just up the street from it is the Continental Club, a popular honky-tonk featuring live music. A few doors down is Home Slice a pizza place where patrons expect a good wait before having their order filled given the crowds.

The Jos Coffee shop catty-corner from the thrift store across the street does a brisk business with caffeine lovers, its draw enhanced by the iconic “I Love You So Much” mural on its northern wall at which people descend en masse on a daily basis to snap pictures.

Across the street from the outdoor coffee shop, popular Amy’s ice cream store also pulls a crowd. So too do another pair of thrift stores offering more expensive, collectible antique fare than the more utilitarian items found at the St. Vincent de Paul.

A number of restaurants along the strip also are consistently filled with patrons. Trendy stores offering haberdashery and contemporary wardrobes cater to a higher-end demographic along the strip.

The area’s increasing popularity has garnered attention from commercial developers hoping to capitalize on the business activity. But that appeal often comes at the expense of “old Austin” establishments in favor of more contemporary offerings that many residents lament.

The trendy Torchy’s supplanted another burger joint, Fran’s Hamburgers, that was long a neighborhood fixture. It was demolished in 2013 to make way for its more modern counterpart. When the lot for the boutique hotel was sold, it displaced a number of food truck owners who long set up their culinary fare at the site, all the merchants since relocated to the Barton Springs area.

Even a busy Chase bank branch at the corner of Mary and South Congress is a relative newcomer, taking over the site from an old funeral home.

In many ways, the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store seems out of place amid such commerce and mixed retail use. But for those who regularly visit--for furnishings, to pore over its vinyl albums, find interesting books, replace a broken wine glass or two from among its dozens of replacements, score vintage, retro clothing ensembles--the store will be missed by those who frequented on a regular basis.

A store manager recently said the move should be completed by March.

The society’s mission centers on providing financial assistance and disaster relief to those in need. Since its 1833 founding in Paris, France, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul now counts 41 conferences throughout its diocese, offering assistance to those in need depending on their geographic location.

Each of those conferences offers basic needs assistance to families and individuals such as rent, utility assistance, food and transportation.

In Austin, officials have scheduled a mid-construction tour of their new site for Jan. 31, inviting members of the public to hear details about their expansion and vision. To attend, RSVP here.