Bargain branches

Bargain hounds snooping for $1 sports coats and 50-cent shoes know that the Salvation Army Thrift Store is a must on the list of shopping stops. But come the first week of February, they'll be sorting through second-hand clothing and other used furnishings in something entirely new -- the location.

The Salvation Army Thrift Store is moving from 610 Independence St. to 416 Morgan Oak St., which used to be home to Cliff's Rent to Own.

And the Salvation Army hopes to open a similar store in Jackson.

"We're really making our changes in phases," said Maj. Michael Thomas of the Salvation Army. "Moving this store to the Morgan Oak location is the first phase."

The second phase includes scouting Jackson to look for a place to open a store. Thomas said he hopes to have a store open there by the summer.

"We want to close our large store and branch out to smaller stores," Thomas said.

Meanwhile, signs at the store on Independence Street announce a moving sale to the customers. Thrifty shoppers inside last week seemed to pay it little attention, instead scrutinizing old books, holding pants up to their waists or flipping through racks of shirts.

Susie Jones of Cape Girardeau shops there three times a month.

"I found a double-breasted wool coat here last time for $2," she bragged. "I find shoes still in the boxes."

Jones said she didn't mind that the store was moving.

"That's OK," she said. "I go where the bargains are."

She said the new spot should have better parking.

The building on Independence Street is 10,000 square feet, and the Morgan Oak Street building is 6,000 square feet. That means the Salvation Army is looking for some warehouse space for superfluous items.

Thomas said that the existing site is more expensive than the new one and that the owner of the building is planning on selling it. Another phase might mean opening a central receiving station where items can be donated and fed to both the Cape Girardeau and Jackson stores.

Everything in the store is donated, Thomas said. Then the donations are sold and used for the organization's programs. The store accepts clothes, appliances or "just about anything that is still usable," Thomas said.

The Salvation Army doesn't sell everything. It gives away about $40,000 a year in clothing and furnishings to the needy, such as a family that lost everything in a fire.

The Salvation Army has signed a three-year lease for the new Morgan Oak Street building.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137.