BOZEMAN — The Salvation Army’s Thrift store has held a special place in the Bozeman community’s heart for years.
“We have a staffing shortage and the staff that I have are very dedicated and very hard-working,” said Richard Larson, lieutenant at the Salvation Army. “But we can’t compete with other companies that can offer a lot more money per hour than what we can offer here.”
The thrift store is one of many businesses in Bozeman struggling with a staffing shortage. But that wasn’t the only reason they decided to make the tough decision to close.
“We also have only been breaking even in the last couple years inside of the thrift store. So we’re not carrying any money from the thrift store into our other programming,” Larson said.
The thrift store will be closing its doors Monday, Sep. 30, but the Salvation Army isn’t going anywhere. In fact, they have some future plans for the store’s current location.
“We are working with another non-profit in the area to rent out our thrift store space so that we can have some income coming in to help fund all of our future programming for the Salvation Army,” said Larson.
“Right at this moment in time we are working with a group of people to figure out what services are needed in Gallatin County that’s not already being met or could be met more,” he said.
In the meantime, shoppers have a few more days to enjoy the good deals and friendly faces at the thrift store.
“It was our favorite thrift store, we loved it,” said shopper Alison Charlton.
“I think we’ll miss just coming and finding our little treasures and it was just nice to have a place to go where you could get things for cheaper having a big family.”
