Thrift Shoppe a great place to find deals

The Wimberley Seniors Thrift Shoppe mixes a little whimsy with used clothing and home furnishings.

The store, which sits just below the Community Center on Ranch Road 12, sells all kinds of used goods with the proceeds going to numerous programs for senior citizens.

When you drive by the store you’re likely to see a flock of stuffed sheep grazing on the lawn. There are disembodied legs evoking images from the movie “Beetlejuice” reclining out front. Customers often sit down for a photo with the legs.

In good weather, when you enter the boutique out back, you’ll be greeted by Jitterbug and Joey, a couple of friendly cockatoos. Jitterbug sings and Joey dances when you whistle the theme from the “Andy Griffith Show.” And there’s free popcorn inside.

But don’t let the fun and games fool you, the proceeds from the shop fund programs such as Wimberley on Wheels, which provides transportation for the elderly, Supper Club Plus, a meal delivery service and Circle of Friends memory loss program.

Every year the shop contributes more than $100,000 to various programs, says manager Melody Blount.

Melody, along with assistant manager Bruce McGuire, the only other paid employee, run the store with the help of 15 volunteers. The volunteers earn $5 in merchandise for every hour they work.

“Everyone here has a talent,” says Melody. “Someone is our librarian. Someone is in charge of the jewelry. Someone researches items for our silent auction.”

Place your bid

The auction runs every two weeks and features some of the more unique items that are donated to the shop. Up for auction now are a couple guitars, a retro radio, vintage posters featuring musicians Jerry Lee Lewis and Muddy Waters, and a couple pieces of modern art.

The rules are simple: put in your bid and wait for the results every other Saturday. The auction has developed quite a following with the regulars arriving a half hour or so before the sales begin. “They’ll be here at 11:30 waiting for the auction on Saturday,” says Melody. “When someone puts down a bid, they’ll jump and update their bids.”

The store has been operating since the mid-1990s. When Melody — who has a background in retail — took over in 2011 she knew some changes were needed.

There were no gates on the property and people would basically drive in after hours and dump their trash. “Once those gates were put up it made our lives so much easier,” says Melody.

Trash disposal costs ate into the profits. “Trash is our biggest expense. We do have to turn people down. I’ll walk them over to the trash bin and ask them: ‘Do you see that? That’s my biggest expense.’ ”

Now the main criteria for the tax-deductible donations is simply: Will it sell?

There’s no telling what might be dropped off. Once, they found a toilet in the donation area (which was taken to another thrift shop, the Village Store, where they sell building supplies).

The Wimberley Seniors Thrift Shoppe won’t take large items like mattresses, old television sets that weigh a ton or sleeper sofas. “It costs $35 to get rid of a sleeper sofa plus they take up a lot of floor space and are very heavy to move around,” says Melody.

On the other hand, someone donated a large, carved Asian-style headboard for a bed that fetched $2,300 — a sales record. They have sold a couple vehicles over the years. “You never can tell,” says Melody. “You could find a diamond ring in a bag full of junk.”

One of the challenges is separating the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes rare and valuable items make their way to the store. “I know glass. I know china.” says Melody. ”With the Internet you can research just about anything.”

All merchandise is 50 percent off the marked price.

Clothing deals

Clothes are the fastest sellers. Melody recalls a skirt that came in with the $299 price tag still on it. The skirt quickly sold for $88.

“We outfit entire families here,” she adds.

The clientele is split between locals looking for a good deal and tourists after that rare out-of-town find.

The well-organized “library” is brightly lit and inviting. The books are sorted by age and type. There’s a table where youngsters can sit down and thumb through books.

The building in front — with clothes, kitchen gadgets and the sorting room — is a pre-fab. The “boutique” in back is an old church. “Lots of our customers come in and say: ‘Oh, we were married here back in the 1970s.’,” says Melody.

There’s a capital campaign under way to spruce the place up a little — some paint, new flooring and lighting, and a system to divert the rain runoff that comes from the Community Center’s parking lot.

Sometimes the shop will provide hot dogs for customers, volunteers and whomever else happens by. At Thanksgiving, the store hosts a meal in the parking lot. Last year, 85 people showed up.

The Wimberley Seniors Thrift Shoppe is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Donations are accepted during regular business hours. Call 512-847-3184 for free furniture pick up.