Local community thrift store closing after 15 years

Community Thrift Store on Dominion Blvd. in south Windsor. (Source: Google Maps)

A well-known thrift store in south Windsor is closing after 15 years in business.

The Community Thrift Store on Dominion Boulevard near West Grand Boulevard announced its closure on social media on Monday.

Speaking on AM800’s Mornings with Mike & Meg, Amanda Mastronardi, the store’s social media manager and community outreach coordinator, said the closure is due to a number of factors including increasing rent and access challenges.

She said the store is also dealing with some pressures that have made it hard to continue.

“Foot traffic and support can be unpredictable especially after the pandemic,” she said.

“On top of that, decisions made by property owners or developers sometimes create really big disruptions and stores like ours, little guys like us, we rely on that consistency and relationships, and we can’t always absorb that kind of pressure.”

Mastronardi said they tried to keep prices as low as possible and is hoping the community comes in over the next month.

“We’d love to see as many people as possible just to give those final good-byes, to give our final hugs, we have so many wonderful, loyal customers and donors over the years that we just want to do good the last couple of weeks that we have,” said Mastronardi.

She said since the closure announcement, the support from the community has been overwhelming in the best possible way.

“So many people have come by just the day that the announcement has been made,” she said.

“They’ve sent us tons of messages, our DMs are absolutely flooded with beautiful memories and stories of support, and it just reminds us of how much the story mattered and that makes closing bittersweet but it’s really, really beautiful.”

Mastronardi said the store will shut down in August, or when the shelves are completely bare.

The store is offering steep discounts and is no longer collecting donations.

- Written by Rob Hindi/AM800 News.