Lenay Ruhl
Staff Writer
If you’re looking for a deal, you can’t miss this one—literally.
The big sign in front of the bright yellow building with eye-catching odds and ends reads, “Haines Road Thrift Shop!” bragging underneath it “Best deal in town.”
The Haines Road Thrift Shop is owned and operated by Mary Brophy-Lee, a native of the St. Petersburg area.
Lee, a single mother, remembers a time when she was trying to find her son clothing. She went to every second hand store in the area, and still could not find something within her budget.
“It annoyed me that people had the audacity to sell things at that price with the economy the way it is,” Lee said.
She decided to open her own thrift store about a year and four months ago. Like many start-up businesses, it came with challenges.
Caring for her diabetic son and reeling from the recent loss of her brother, Lee decided to take her struggles and turn them into a project.
Working on her thrift store filled the void her brother’s death had left in her heart.
Lee purchases 90 percent of the merchandise for her store while 10 percent is donated.“If we don’t have it, you don’t need it,” Lee said. “Or we can get it for you.”
She keeps an “I wanna” list in her store, telling people that if she doesn’t have what they’re looking for, she’ll keep an eye out for it.
There is a four-for-a-dollar bin with infant and toddler clothes to help out mothers on a budget. Lee has everything in her store from clothing to kitchen supplies to furniture and paint.
The most random item that Lee ever sold in her thrift store was a bathtub.
Although a bathtub isn’t weird in a general sense, it wasn’t something she expected to sell. “I thought it wouldn’t move, but it sold right away,” Lee said.
Since Lee personally purchases the merchandise, she gets to control what comes in. She joked that sometimes she gets things in, but doesn’t know what they are. “I like to cater to the families,” Lee said.
Being able to help someone gives Lee a good feeling. She knows that some of her customer’s couldn’t afford half of what they buy at her store.
Coming into the holiday season with Halloween lingering around the corner, Lee has all of her Halloween décor out front.
“Everyone goes home feeling happy,” Lee said. She feels good knowing someone got a bargain because of her, and the person who walks out knows they just got a good deal.
“I hope everyone tells a friend,” Lee said. “That’s how it works.”
The Haines Road Thrift Shop does not have a telephone. Lee said that if people want to know what she has, they would come in and look. She is on Facebook and Craigslist. Her store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is located at 2850 58 Ave. N, off of Haines road in Pinellas Park.
