Gainesville thrift store to reopen in temporary location after fire

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - The Outreach Thrift Store will reopen Monday in a temporary location after a fire damaged its original building about a month ago.

The nonprofit store on Northwest 6th Street has served the Gainesville community for nearly 30 years, providing affordable items and helping families through partnerships with local organizations. On April 28, a fire damaged part of the building. Owners say the fire started outside the business. According to Alachua County Fire Rescue, the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

Owner Kasey Vellekamp said the business has been closed for over a month.

“I think it was a blow at first,” Vellekamp said. “Every time you go through a major disaster, even hurricanes, even any type of major disaster, you kind of sit back and like, oh, what is, you know, you just, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna provide for food? How are we gonna do this? We cut everybody’s income. No one was receiving any income during this time we’ve been off.”

The business will open its temporary location Monday on Northwest 13th Street while the original building is being rebuilt with help from community support and donations. Owners are using items they were able to save from the fire to help stock the new space.

RELATED: ‘I feel awful’: Residents react to Outreach Thrift Store fire

“So you look at that, and I always say, there’s always a blessing in disguise there,” Vellekamp said. “And I don’t know what that is, but right now it opened up that we’re gonna have this location as a temporary location.”

The floors are being painted and an air conditioning system is being installed. Vellekamp said this is a family effort.

“At the same time, we’re still providing for the community, even if it’s on a lower scale,” Vellekamp said. “I actually was just driving by 13th and saw this place for rent. And I just came in and said, you know, hey, is it available? And it just went from there.”

Owners say they will be downsizing operations, but their mission to help the community will stay the same. Donations can be brought to the old building location.

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