By: Cara Latham
HIGHTSTOWN Greater Goods has found a home for its thrift store and will be opening it up to the public before the end of the year.
Amanda Porter, director of development for Greater Goods, said the store will open up at 413 Mercer St. in a 3,200-square-foot segment of the Lucas Electric building. Organizers are hoping to have it open in time for the holiday season, although a definite date is not yet known, she said.
"It’s an absolute dream location," she said. "It’s in a really prime retail spot. It’s a store that we had our eye on for quite a while."
Greater Goods is one of the services under the Community Action Service Center, a non-profit organization based in Hightstown and serving eastern Mercer County. The community-based thrift store will benefits local community outreach services through donations from local residents, and serves families in Hightstown and East Windsor. The group has been hosting yard sales to raise money to cover the start-up operations for the store.
Ms. Porter said she thinks Matt Lucas, the owner of Lucas Electric, who bought the building a few years ago, had been holding out for a tenant he thought was a "good fit for the building." He is renting it to the organization for "far below" marketing value, she said.
In addition to finding a location, the thrift store will benefit from a $10,000 grant it has been awarded by the First Presbyterian Church of Hightstown. The grant will help cover the thrift store’s operating expenses, including rent, Ms. Porter said. And Diversified Rack and Shelving will donate supplies, including shelving, to the thrift store, she added.
Greater Good has surpassed it’s goal of raising $10,000 through yard sales it held throughout the summer. The group had already surpassed the goal coming into Hightstown’s Home Town Harvest festival, but had so many donations and no storage space, that they decided to hold a garage sale during the festival and ended up collecting $1,200, Ms. Porter said. Through yard sales alone, the organization raised $12,000.
With the thrift store opening soon and goals having been surpassed, Ms. Porter said organizers are "thrilled."
"This started out literally in our living rooms and front yards and basements and garages, and to see this happen so quickly and with so much community support, it’s overwhelming," she said. "We really want, at this, point, to focus on building a volunteer base that’s consistent and ongoing, and use the community partnerships that we’ve been developing to keep this operation running."

