Grandmas’ got a brand new shop

New space gives shop more than twice as much floor space

as previous building.

Dozens lined up on the east side of Main Street Tuesday morning as the Colfax Thrifty Grandmother’s opened their new shop.

“It’s so wonderful,” said Jill Miller, one of the grandmothers. “I just can’t stop smiling.”

The grandmothers moved their thrift shop into the former Deacon’s Medical Equipment building from their former digs across Main Street in Colfax.

The club had done business at its spot on the west side of Main for the past decade.

Christmas decorations and ornaments were displayed in the new store’s front window.

When Miller threw open the door Tuesday morning the regular crowd of bargain hunters, which followed the store across the street, poured in, frenzied with anticipation.

Once inside, they were greeted by big band music piped into speakers placed around the new store from a grandmother’s turntable.

Toys were arranged in a nook area where children delightedly flocked after the doors opened. Books and records were placed in the former pharmacist area of the store which served as Elk Drug before it housed the Deacon’s operation.

Thrifty Grandmother’s sells donated items for bargain basement prices and donate the proceeds from sales to help community projects, fund scholarships for Colfax High graduates and help individuals in need.

Club president Bonnie Smith said the new location gives them much more floor space to display inventory. The building’s 30-feet width is almost twice the size of the 16-foot wide former location.

“It’s just wonderful to have all this space,” Smith said.

Racks of clothing sat in the middle of the retail space, a change from their cramped corners in the previous store.

Volunteer grandmothers and jail trustees spent hours packing merchandise and moving it across the street, according to Miller.

“Thrifty Grandmother’s Shop” sign boards were painted and installed by Allen McSweeney beneath the awning of the new location.

The Deacon’s Medical Equipment site was left vacant after the Deacons sold the business to Northern Medical Systems of Chewelah. They moved their store to Sid’s Pharmacy which is located in the Pullman Care Community off Bishop Blvd. in Pullman. The grandmothers are leasing their new building from Roger Deacon.

The new location means a change in the grandmothers’ donation policy.

In the old site, donations could be dropped off behind the building. Smith said items left in the alley behind the new shop have already been stolen before they could be brought inside. Smith said donations to the grandmothers should now either be brought in through the Main Street door or by ringing a doorbell at the back door. Smith said the club will only accept donations when open.