The City of Mercer Island is seeking input from the community on the Thrift Shop Renovation Project and specifically on alternative locations for donations processing. The potential Thrift Shop Renovation Project includes expanding retail floor space at the current Thrift Shop (7710 SE 34th Street) and proposes to relocate donation processing to a secondary site.
Background
Since 1970, proceeds from the Mercer Island Thrift Shop have been used to support services provided by the City of Mercer Island Youth and Family Services (YFS) Department.
The Thrift Shop temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and has recentlyContinue reading
The City of Mercer Island is seeking input from the community on the Thrift Shop Renovation Project and specifically on alternative locations for donations processing. The potential Thrift Shop Renovation Project includes expanding retail floor space at the current Thrift Shop (7710 SE 34th Street) and proposes to relocate donation processing to a secondary site.
Background
Since 1970, proceeds from the Mercer Island Thrift Shop have been used to support services provided by the City of Mercer Island Youth and Family Services (YFS) Department.
The Thrift Shop temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and has recently re-opened for sales on Sundays only. Donation receiving and processing resumed in the fall of 2020 on Saturdays only and was relocated to the Mercer Island Community and Event Center (MICEC) to accommodate Pandemic-related operating restrictions.
The existing Thrift Shop does not have the capacity to "hold" donations for a minimum of 48-hours before the items are sanitized and moved to the sales floor. MICEC will continue to host Thrift Shop donation processing until recreation programs and services resume, tentatively anticipated for the summer of 2020.
Expanding Retail by Moving Donations Processing to a Second Location
The ongoing operating limitations at the Thrift Shop presented a unique and timely opportunity to consider a potential capital improvement project at the facility.
In the summer of 2020 the City Council directed the staff to explore a potential remodel of the Thrift Shop to expand the retail floor space. The expansion of the retail floor space requires donation receiving and processing to move to a secondary location.
The City owned former Recycling Center (3205 77th Ave SE), currently used for storage and park restrooms, is within walking distance of the Thrift Shop and was identified as a possible site to house Thrift Shop donation receiving and processing.
Click here for more information on the initial work performed by the architect.
In November 2020 the City Council paused work on the project to request community feedback and to solicit ideas for alternative donation processing sites.
How To Provide Feedback And Location Ideas
At its meeting on Feb 2, 2021, the City Council voted to suspend this project.
Feedback is no longer being gathered.
At its February 2 meeting, the City Council received a report on the community feedback on the proposed Thrift Shop renovation project.
