After more than 11 years at the former Bunkhouse on 3701 Corrales Rd., popular thrift store Secondhand Treasures was asked to vacate last July. The owner wanted to sell the commercially zoned property and has it listed at $750,000 (no buyer yet).
In the meantime, Southwest Animal Rescue Fund and its President Nancy Baumgardner have been scrambling to find new digs. Secondhand Treasures donates the money from its sales to that organization and other rescue efforts and Baumgardner manages the store. Happily, they now are planning to reopen at 4627 Corrales Rd. The new rental comprises two separate buildings which will be linked by a walkway, an entrance and an outdoor courtyard garden. It is sited in a much more central location near restaurants, El Mercado and other retailers.
The reopening is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1, too late for Ballon Fiesta tourists but just in time for the holidays. “We have the ground floor of both buildings. Our old location was 3,500 square feet,†said Baumgardner. “This is much smaller at 2,000 square feet overall.â€
The Secondhand Treasures sign will be prominent on the Corrales Rd. side of the building but parking will be on the south side near the new entrance. The parking lot is probably three times as large as the postage-stamp-sized parking space they had at The Bunkhouse, with no water-pooling issues as there were at the former location.
“Here we have running water, a bathroom and a small kitchen, none of which we had at the other place,†Baumgardner said. At The Bunkhouse, store volunteers and customers had to use a Porta Potty outside the back door as the building was not connected to a sewer line.
Strategically, Southwest Animal Rescue Fund has partnered with Animal Humane over the summer and finds that the partnership expands their rescue efforts. Recently, 19 dogs from an animal rescue partner on the Navajo Reservation were housed at Animal Humane and adopted within one week. Animal Humane also stashed the store fixtures and other items in their warehouse for Secondhand Treasures free of charge while the organization looked for a new home base. From now on, Animal Humane will reap the benefits of the thrift store’s sales, too.
Secondhand Treasures is well known for gathering quality used items at reasonable prices. Residents donate items to be resold and will be able to donate again starting Oct. 1. In one visit before the move, you could shop for clothes in all sizes, plenty of upscale glassware and china, jewelry at low prices and even a tiger-maple upright keyboard. Other sought-after items were all kinds of artwork and decorative pieces along with some small furniture. There was a year-round Christmas room but Baumgardner says that may not be possible to set up in the reduced space.
“I want people to know that we’re probably going to open with reduced inventory at first, but we’ll be going full steam as soon as we can,†Baumgardner said. “We will be open for business as usual, just with less space.â€
Less space it may be, but a pretty space it is. Multi-paned windows grace most rooms and the white, gallery-style walls give an airy feel inside the old structure. The courtyard garden will be planted with donated blooms from friend Margie Schneider. Lots of busy-bee volunteers were fixing up the place at press time, painting, plastering and replacing the window on a door. The wide house porch on Corrales Rd. has been prepped to display larger items for sale. The second building sports large picture windows and will be easily accessed through the shared entrance.
Secondhand Treasures reopening is scheduled for Nov. 1; Donations will be accepted at 4627 Corrales Rd. beginning Oct. 1