Published May 2005

New retail focus benefits
Lynnwood thrift store

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

St. Vincent de Paul’s new Lynnwood thrift store, opened in February, promises to be a marketing success for the nonprofit organization at a time when many stores have closed in King County and other parts of the nation.

For the Snohomish County council of the charity group, based in Everett, success has come from combining new marketing moves with St. Vincent’s traditional service attitude and wide selection of merchandise.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ JOHN WOLCOTT Clothing, baskets, books, videos, furniture and mattresses are favorite items offered by St. Vincent de Paul’s new Lynnwood store, according to Wendy Green, the store’s new manager.

Although St. Vincent’s other three stores — two in south Everett on Broadway and one in Monroe — have been profitable for years, the early success of the Lynnwood store has validated the wisdom of bringing a new marketing professional into the management group.

Experienced in years of retail store sales, Jim Kehoe recently was hired to move St. Vincent de Paul stores in Snohomish County to a new level of profitability — with the “profits” going to help the poor as well as ensuring the stores themselves would remain in the black.

“We’ve applied some very good management practices and come up with a new philosophy for customer services. My job is to move the organization forward and to look at the spiritual and social side of the business, which is my background. Jim now handles the business and marketing side, so together, we make a very good team,” said Dave Alcorta, the organization’s Snohomish County executive director. “I believe Jim’s experience will change the level of service St. Vincent can provide in the county.”

Kehoe, studying lagging sales in St. Vincent’s Lynnwood store on 196th Street NE near Highway 99, noted the store was small and the location lacked prominence. Finding a shopping center site three miles north in Lynnwood, Kehoe moved ahead with construction of a large new facility that is wall-to-wall with a prime retail thrift store, Valu-Village, on Highway 99.

“People ask us why we’re right next to one of our biggest competitors,” Kehoe said. “We know that when people are shopping thrift stores they’re attracted to places where they can shop more than one facility with one stop. Both stores benefit from this.”

That view was proven when the store opened, grossing triple the amount estimated in the store’s business plan. It’s an inviting, open, airy store with colorful displays and too-good-to-turn-down prices. Weekend sales cut prices on many items even more. Clothing is a big draw but so are furniture, household goods, radios, games, books and videos. The store even specializes in new, low-cost mattresses.

“When I was a kid in grade school, the Vincentian Sisters of Charity had me helping with rummage sales. I’ve come full circle,” said Kehoe, who believes he can help St. Vincent grow by bringing his retail business experience into play.

“The old Lynnwood store began 20 years ago, when thrift stores didn’t have to be bright and pleasant, they just had to have stuff,” said Kehoe. “Lynnwood was a key move. We needed a bigger store with more revenue. No money, no mission. If you want (the resources) to do good things for people, you have to have a solid business side to it, too.”

Donations of cash and material goods, dedicated volunteers and spiritual guidance help the society serve the needy. Thrift store goods are provided to the poor at reduced cost or no cost at all by vouchers. Surplus funds from thrift store sales are used to finance the group’s many services.

“We were operating well before, but we weren’t meeting all of the community needs that we wanted to. With the new store doing so well, we’re beginning to plan new special ministries in the community,” Alcorta said, adding that he’s pleased to be doing well when a lot of his counterparts in the charity thrift store business are not surviving.

Several St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores have been closed in King County recently, including an appliance repair shop and thrift store in downtown Seattle, a thrift store in White Center and a mattress factory near Safeco Field, because of declining sales.

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