| Thrift store thriving in Downtown Bloomington |
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| Written by Hannah Tomlin, Daily Vidette Senior Staff |
| Tuesday, 03 November 2009 03:50 |
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“She has a real entrepreneur spirit. She is really intelligent, really driven and really motivated. So I wanted to help her,” Jim Pankey said, as he described his daughter, Angela Pankey, owner of Neighborhood Thrift Store in downtown Bloomington. At 20-years-old, Pankey’s dream of owning a thrift store came true. Although she is currently attending Heartland Community College and plans to transfer to ISU next year, Angela did not hesitate when given the opportunity to open her own store. With the help of her father, Neighborhood Thrift Store opened at 406 North Main St. in early June. Since then, it has received an increasing amount of recognition and business. “I just really wanted to give back to the community. People have told us that they like us here, and it really makes me happy because that’s really why I wanted to start this business,” she said. By offering items such as furniture, home décor, linens, vintage clothing, jewelry and books at extremely low prices, some of the lower income members of the community have been able to benefit from their business. Students have also shown an interest. With a room full of books for only 25 cents each, it is unlikely to find a better deal at other locations. Although they decided not to focus on the clothing aspect of the business, their vintage clothing has appealed largely to students. “That’s the only clothing we do have, actually. We have some vintage dresses. A lot of students have been coming in and buying them. They are looking for something unusual and different,” Jim Pankey said. “We just have a lot of unique stuff in here. I think that’s why the store is getting popular. We have a lot of items you don’t see in other thrift stores,” he added. Their store differs from the other thrift shops in the area also, because unlike most thrift stores, it’s a for-profit business. “We are not a nonprofit, but we’re looking for nonprofit organizations that we could join with and donate to,” Jim Pankey said. Although they are hoping to make a profit, Pankey recognizes that it’s a difficult process. “It is showing slow, positive growth. That’s what Angela and I realized – that business is not about getting rich overnight. It’s about providing a quality product to our customers and making a small profit over time and that’s the model we’ve built here,” he said. Angela provided advice for other students who have aspirations to open a business at a young age. “The best advice I can give is to have a support group, someone who is going to be helping you throughout the whole process,” she said. For Angela, that someone has been her father. After she performed the research and discussed her ideas with him, he agreed to finance the business for her. “She asked me to finance her. I helped her, and the community has responded pretty positively,” he said. “We did research, and the industry has grown like six percent per year for the past several years. Also, the idea of recycling has become very popular,” he added. Overall, Angela has been satisfied with the amount of attention they have been receiving. “If things keep going well, then hopefully we can open another store on the east side of town or in Normal,” she said. |
