Deals abound at thrift store

  • Published
  • By Deborah Silliman Wolfe
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The Luke Air Force Base thrift store has been open for almost two months and the members of the Luke Officers' Spouses Club, who run the store, want the base community to know they are back in business after shutting down for summer. 

"We opened up September, and I don't think people realize that," said Eleanor Hoskins, thrift store manager and LOSC member. 

The store, which is not air conditioned, closes for the summer months because according to Mrs. Hoskins, it gets so hot in the building "you just can't stand it." 

Mrs. Hoskins has been volunteering at the thrift store for more than 20 years and explained that currently, most of the items available for sale are being consigned by members of the base community. 

"People with a military identification card can consign items here, or bring in donations 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays," Mrs. Hoskins said. "For an administration fee of 50 cents, an individual can consign 16 items a day, only three of which can be adult clothing. We take almost anything besides shoes, undergarments and items with stuffing. And consigners need to call ahead if they are bringing a large item to make sure we have floor space available." 

Thrift shop volunteers help consigners fill out the necessary paperwork, tag the items and put them on the floor. Consigners can name their own price and if an item isn't sold in 30 days, the price is marked down 10 percent. If an item is not sold in 60 days, the consigner can come back to the store and collect all of their unsold items, or donate them to the store. At the end of the 60 days, the thrift store issues a check to the consigner for the items sold on their contract. The consigner gets 75 percent of the profit, while the thrift store keeps 25 percent. 

"The donations that we sell are where we get a lot of our money," Mrs. Hoskins said.
 
The money raised at the thrift store goes directly into the LOSC welfare fund. The money from the fund is given to a variety of different causes, including scholarships for military spouses and the layette fund, which helps provide necessities for newborn babies. 

According to Mrs. Hoskins, clean items that are in good condition don't sit long on the shelves. A variety of people shop at the store and the most popular items for men are tools and knickknacks and kitchenware for women. 

Mrs. Hoskins and the 23 other LOSC volunteers not only keep the store running smoothly, but have fun while doing it. 

"I love the people -- coworkers and customers -- they are all unique," Mrs. Hoskins said. "You ought to spend a day over here; it's really fun!" 

The thrift store is located at the south end of Bldg. 610 and is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. For more information, call (623) 935-5782.