- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lakeport Meals on Wheels Thrift Store to close; new future location sought
LAKEPORT, Calif. — A popular downtown Lakeport thrift shop is about to close, but there are hopes that it will return in a new location.
The Lakeport Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels Thrift Store, located at 120 N. Main St., will close on April 30, said Lisa Morrow, executive director of the Lake Family Resource Center, which has managed the senior center since July of 2020.
Morrow said the store stopped accepting donations on Feb. 15 in anticipation of winding down. There are plans for several upcoming sales ahead of the closure, ranging from 25% to 75% off.
The popular store, which opened on Halloween of 2011, has supplemented the Meals on Wheels operations for the last 12 years.
However, sales have dropped, said Morrow, who added that retail sales are down everywhere.
“The sales are just not the same as they used to be,” she said.
The store has an “amazing” group of volunteers, as well as getting help from Ability Road to sort donations, she said.
The senior center has had to hire people to keep the store open, and the rising cost of minimum wage has also had an impact, Morrow explained.
While the drop in sales is part of the reason to close the store, Morrow said the bigger issue is that they can’t keep up with the building’s maintenance, coupled with the rising cost of electricity.
She said the building is hot in summer, has a basement that floods and it leaks in the winter time. The most recent cost estimate to fix the latest leak was $8,800.
“That building is just too much,” she said, adding, “It’s just not a good setup is all.”
The Lakeport Senior Center owns the building outright. Morrow said they plan to put the building on the market this spring rather than continue to put money into it.
Once the dust settles, assuming they can sell the building, Morrow said they plan to reopen a store in a more appropriate location, although they don’t yet know where.
Meantime, Meals on Wheels will continue, Morrow said.
The thrift store has supplemented the program’s main funding, which comes primarily through the Area Agency on Aging.
Morrow said she’s been surprised to find out that community members care so much about the store.
As the changes take place, Morrow said the senior center will look at other revenue streams while it seeks a smaller and more feasible location for the store.
The store’s manager, Sandy Baroni, put a sign on the door that explained the closure and ended with a word of thanks.
“Thank you for your patronage during the past twelve years,” the note read. “It has been my pleasure working here and supporting the Meals on Wheels program for all of that time, not to mention meeting so many wonderful community members.”
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