Published June 2001

St. Vincent de Paul ‘recycles’ goods to help needy

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

St. Vincent de Paul’s two thrift stores in Everett are among the county’s most successful “recycling” businesses.

The nonprofit organization is better known for helping society’s poor survive the high cost of living, but Executive Director Dave Alcorta said there’s no doubt that keeping thousands of tons of goods out of landfills in Snohomish County is a very real role as well.

Carloads and truckloads of used-but-still-usable items arrive at the stores at 6425 Broadway year-round, where staff and volunteers clean, sort and tag them for sale at the site’s two retail facilities. The revenues are used to help families in need and to provide discounted — often free — household goods for the poor.

Alcorta, who arrived six months ago to run the center, had worked for years in management roles with the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services. Now he’s in charge of the organization’s Snohomish County Council, which oversees thrift stores in Monroe and Lynnwood, plus 16 conferences — groups operating in Catholic churches throughout the county.

The two stores, separated by a parking lot, enjoy a friendly sales rivalry.

“We have a lot more people coming here than we did when we were on Evergreen Way,” said Linda Camren, the store supervisor and a 13-year employee who remembers when the thrift store was on one of Everett’s main thoroughfares, instead of off the beaten path on Broadway, where the society built a new 7,000-square-foot store nearly three years ago.

Colorful kites hang from the ceiling and artificial flowers brighten the décor of the larger store, which is filled with a variety of books, records, clothing, furniture and household goods. Less than 25 yards away, a smaller store that has been on the property for many years sells household goods along with refrigerators, washers and dryers, radios, appliances and tape players.

“Sales have never been better, particularly lately,” said Ben Parker, Operations Officer for the stores. “We’ve had double-digit increases — 10 to 11 percent — every year since we’ve been here. Customers followed us and brought others with them.”

As for the donated goods that keep the thrift stores stocked, the volume has doubled since the move to the new, more remote location, said Frank Marchi, Manager of the older store and Chairman of the committee that oversees both stores.

“We have several developmentally disabled people who come to help us, too, and we provide them with very simple tasks to do that build their egos and self-confidence, such as cleaning, hanging clothes up and moving things. They’ve become part of our family, too,” Marchi said.

Marcia Erickson, Manager of the facility, has extensive retail experience and knows she could work anywhere, including other thrift stores, but she prefers St. Vincent de Paul.

“I don’t want to work with just any thrift store. I’m here because I came for the spiritual values,” Erickson said.

“We know our customers. People enjoy themselves here. Sometimes, they just sit on the furniture and visit,” said Dorothy Trinen, President of the society’s Snohomish County Council.

Alcorta, recalling his years with local, state and federal agencies as a bureaucrat, said, “I come from a background of working with agencies that have so many things for people to do to prove they’re poor enough to obtain services. Instead, here if you’re poor, you don’t have to prove it. You get assistance when you need it.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a volunteer Catholic lay organization comprising more than 850,000 members in 131 countries who visit the poor and needy in their homes, offering help and financial assistance. The organization has more than 400 thrift stores and warehouses in the United States that collect millions of tons of clothing, appliances and household goods that are marketed through the stores to help the poor.

In Snohomish County, $435,480 of material assistance was provided to the poor during 1999, involving 252 volunteers who worked 47,187 hours. Although exact figures have not been released, revenues, the number of volunteers and their donated hours have all increased since then, Alcorta said.

The thrift stores in Everett can be reached at 425-355-3525. Emergency assistance for the poor is available at 425-355-3505.

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