The Casa de los Niños Thrift Store, on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Prince Road, is closing its doors after 46 years. In an announcement to the community, Casa de los Niños cited the changing retail landscape for the thrift store’s financial struggles and said they are no longer accepting donations.
“There is increasingly more competition for both customers and employees, and our model is no longer sustainable,” the announcement read. “We are so grateful to our donors, customers, and staff for all of the years of support.”
The thrift is still open for regular business hours. They will hold a final sale July 20-24, and then officially close to the public.
The large thrift store contains a variety of clothing, furniture and media, the sales of which supported Casa de los Niños’ goal to support local children and families in need.
The Casa de los Niños Thrift Store is located at 1302 E. Prince Road and open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays and Sundays. For more information, visit casadelosninos.org
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2021.
That’s too bad. The store has always been busy every time I’ve been there. It’s going to be missed
Jeff!
As a reader and supporter of non-profits I have an idea for an article that would help people make good choices with their donations. Can you do some research and a write up to rank our non-profits? Figure out how much they are spending on ‘administrative costs’, how they award contracts (and to who) and other things that syphon money away from the cause. Over the years I have heard so many stories of graft and abuse by the leaders at some of our most prominent non-profits in town. Everything from nepotism in hiring or contracts, using money that has been raised to buy themselves lunch everyday, giving themselves raises every year, etc. Knowing how much of our donated money actually gets to needy families, kids and animals would greatly impact the choices we make with out charity and would make for a better Tucson.
Is this doable? Or would it step on too many toes? I can understand how your editorial staff might be afraid of the consequences, but I think it would be a worthy task!
Start with the Gospel Rescue Mission
https://grmtucson.com/about-us/
It is has the whitest board of directors that I have seen in my entire life!
Steven writes: “It is has the whitest board of directors that I have seen in my entire life! “
Sounds like a plus to me. But exactly why is that a problem for you Steve? Are straight, white people forbidden to give their time to serve their community and the less fortunate?
Human,
I suspect the Goodwill Industries put Casa out of business. Which is a pity because they are someone I donate to only when it is especially expedient. You can do your own research about them and their practices, particularly their pay scale for disabled workers (waaaay under minimum wage). I haven’t vetted many, but my late wife and I donated a lot of stuff and money to Youth on Their Own.
We also found our own worthy causes. One Christmastime after her kids (my step kids) were gone, she contacted a school nurse and asked whether there was a needy kid that we could help. We didn’t need to know who it was, just that he or she was needy and deserving. To my wife and her family, Christmas had always been a big deal. Despite our denial of a need-to-know we were given the name of a nine year old boy (who happened to be black and living with his 35 year old grandmother—you do the math) . My wife went crazy and bought tons of clothes, shoes, jackets, notebooks, etc and wrapped it all as presents. The back of my Suburban was packed when we delivered the stuff. The kid wasn’t there and we never met him, but he did call on Christmas day to thank us. Hopefully, we made a difference.