Kids in Distress, a charity that helps abused children, is closing its Wilton Manors thrift shop because of declining income from the store.
“It is sad, and it is frightening, and it is a loss,” said Jeanne Miley, executive director of Kids in Distress. “It’s a huge hardship for the agency.”
At its peak, the Good As New store, which has been operating for five years, netted between $50,000 and $75,000 a year for the organization, which has an annual budget of $3.25 million. But the store’s profits are down about 25 percent.
“It just wasn’t feasible to keep it open,” said Marion Driscoll, president of the Kids in Distress Auxiliary East group, which runs the store. “I don’t think there’s any one factor.”
Miley said the store, in a strip mall at the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard, has suffered from a decline in donations, particularly from large department stores.
“We used to get their seconds,” Miley said. “Now they sell them in their outlets.”
Volunteers also are harder to come by, and the store has had to resort to pay more of its staff, Miley said. The organization has had a hard time finding affordable, reliable truck drivers who can pick up large donations, such as furniture, she said.
Kids in Distress was founded in 1979 to prevent child abuse and to treat young victims. The organization provides shelters, clinics and preschool for children who have been abused.
The Good As New store will close on Dec. 23. Kids in Distress has no plans to open another store, but the organization’s board is scheduled to meet next month to discuss ways to replace the lost revenue.
