Women in Need Society opens thrift store with a twist

The Women in Need Society (WINS) have opened the More Store, a thrift store with a twist.

Calgary — The Women in Need Society (WINS) has launched a new way to shop for thrift clothing where the more you buy, the less they charge. Called The More Store, the shop, on 54 Street S.E. offers a wide variety of gently used clothing competitively priced for bulk shopping.

According to WINS executive director Karen Ramchuk, the more you buy, the lower the price drops.

“All the items in the store are priced at a dollar,” said Ramchuk, explaining that as a customer buys more, the price drops to 75 cents per item.

With so many donations, the quality of product varies. To sell products in the society's thrift stores, there are quality standards that must be met. Some donated  items fall below those standards.

“These are items that don’t quite fit the quality for our thrift stores or could even be clearance items from our thrift stores," Ramchuk said, "and instead if it didn’t sell in our store, then we are putting it in here (More Store) before we send it to recycle - which helps the environment.”

With more people staying at home due to the pandemic, donations are up.

“At this time we are not taking donations in our thrift stores which we normally do," said Ramchuk. "We are sending all the donations to our donation centre which is attached to the More Store,”

More Store opened June 9 and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is located at Unit 141, 7007 - 54 Street S.E. There are hand sanitizers at each entrance, and the store limits the number of people who can be in the store at one time.