Vernon Salvation Army open new thrift store

Just hours before its grand opening Friday morning, the Vernon Salvation Army celebrated the opening of their new thrift store with a sneak peak event.

“This location is great for the thrift store, the parking is four times the size that we had at the old store. It's also integrated into a thrift store hub,” said Neil Thompson with the Vernon Salvation Army about the advantages of the new store.

People in attendance on Thursday evening received gift bags full of goodies as well as early access to the store's merchandise.

“We're just excited to be able to bring something new and fresh to the community,” said Thompson.

The Salvation Army moved the thrift store to the Midtown Mall (next to Dollar Tree) at 2707 43rd Ave because they needed a larger space for their food bank.

“We started looking for space for that, and we recognized that that was hard to find, so we found retail space, and we were able to move the thrift store here to this great location,” said Thompson.

The location's opening is coming at a critical time. Thompson says the Vernon Salvation Army has seen a spike in food bank usage over the last few years.

“We all are feeling the crunch of the dollar. It doesn't stretch as far as it once did and that's affecting a lot of people in our community.”

The store's regular hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Donations can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.