Lisa Lee peeks out from the holiday décor and appropriately decorated mannequins at Classy Seconds Thrift Shop now decorated for the season. (Photo: Courtesy Ronni Hannaman)
At Classy Second Thrift Shop, there are no worries about the sluggish supply chain when it comes to stocking the popular thrift store for the holidays. The shelves and clothing racks are brimming with holiday finds.
This thrift store’s supply chain doesn’t depend on ships stuck in harbors, transportation issues, strikes, slow-downs, lack of employees, or other mitigating circumstances associated with getting goods to the market. The Classy Seconds supply chain is the many wonderful donors who drop off hundreds of donations daily, some hardly used or in new boxes. The once cherished items find new homes where they are cherished once again.
According to Lisa Lee, executive director of Advocates to End Domestic Violence who also manages the association’s thrift store, “We accept donations of holiday items year-round and then store them until about a week after Nevada Day to begin our holiday display and when we announce we’ve transformed the store to holiday mode, the clients come running!”
Lee is an artist and enjoys decorating the store seasonally; however, she especially loves this season. The front window would rival any nice department store when stores once decorated their windows. She crafted the huge bells hanging from the rafters and even puts all those once-popular Christmas village items in a special display.
Classy Seconds has been serving area customers for 25 years, the first 21 at their Hot Springs Road location before building their own store at the corner of Highway 50 and Gordon Street four years ago. Lee states, “At our thrift store you can find clothing of all sizes, accessories, furniture, linens, books, appliances, knick-knacks and so much more. There’s even a boutique section for those who seek once gently used high-priced brand names now offered at low prices.”
As one of the most successful thrift stores in the region, sales from donated items represent almost 50 percent of the operating costs of the association’s many programs to assist women and children touched by domestic violence and for this Lee is grateful to her loyal donors and to the customers who enjoy thrifting.
“We love to see the smiling faces when a customer shows us their special find or tells us of the many items they found to furnish their new home or apartment,” she said.
Donations are accepted daily with Monday and Tuesday donors totaling 160 cars each day dropping off at the back door.
“I think people clean their closets on weekends and we are the beneficiaries,” she said.
Classy Seconds Thrift Store is open daily. Phone 775-841-7081 for hours. State of Nevada COVID regulations are in effect.