Mercy House to open new thrift store in Timberville

TIMBERVILLE, Va. (WHSV) — Over the last several months, Mercy House, a non-profit in Harrisonburg that helps with affordable housing, has been looking for a new home for an additional thrift store.

The organization uses sales from its three thrift stores to help fund services they provide to the community.

Shannon Porter, the executive director, said their lease for the thrift boutique on University Blvd. was coming to an end, and after losing some business with an absence of JMU students, he decided it was time to move.

“The new property really did fall into the right time and right place for us,” Porter said.

To continue to better serve the area, the organization found a little spot on North Main Street in Timberville that will now serve as their third thrift store location.

Porter said just last week they closed in on purchasing the bank building, which features retail space and six apartment units upstairs.

“The retail space is obvious for us. We’re going to put a thrift store in that location,” Porter said. "But we’re also going to be taking those apartments over and putting affordable rents in place and being able to eventually provide some private subsidies for people who need affordable housing.”

The executive director said over the next few weeks vendors will be coming in and out the building to clean up the retail space after nothing has occupied it for the past several years.

Porter said with a new store, they also hope to hire more people to help out.

“We also use our retail operations as an extension of our mission," Porter said. "We provide affordable clothing and low-cost items to survival shoppers that need that and provide good jobs to people that have come out of our shelter operations.”

Porter said they’re excited about the move and hopes the Timberville community will see the positivity they can add to the community.

The thrift store is expected to be open by the end of November.

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