Community Project Thrift Store relocates in Rochester

After downtown eviction, Community Project Thrift Store is reopening in the former Save-A-Lot building. Owner Jared Howard says the extra space will not only provide customers with a better shopping experience, but also allow him to expand to more locations in the future. 

Ready or not, Jared Howard plans to reopen his relocated Community Project Thrift Store on Sept. 26 in the former Save-A-Lot building on the east side of Rochester.

“Call it a grand opening, a soft opening, but we’re opening,” he said, adding there's still a lot yet to do. 

On Wednesday, he could be found moving truckloads of merchandise into the new store – located between Lake Manitou and the Fulton County Airport off State Road 14. He was joined by his mother Charmon Griggs and friend Carlin Smith.

Howard, facing eviction in the city’s downtown due to an overwhelming supply of merchandise, says the new location – with six times the space – will provide his customers a better shopping experience and allow him to open a second location when the time comes.

The thrift store started off as Half Price or Less. It opened at 710 Main St. in December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly half a year later, Howard began taking ownership of the business and relaunched with the Community Project concept and name. 

The thrift store sells donated items to raise money for organizations. When a donation is made, the donor gets to choose where 20 percent of the funds made on those items go to help a favorite community charity, church, project, or organization. 

Community Project has partnered with more than 120 organizations, and that number continues to grow, with five more added this week alone, Howard said.

A flood of donations from such organizations looking to raise money for their own communities led to being evicted at the downtown location, Howard explained.  

“We were getting too much stuff,” he said. “Our floors were unsafe, the fire department was always being called, the state fire department was always being called. Eventually my landlord said to me, ‘Enough’s enough. You’ve outgrown this building,’ and we got evicted." 

"By God’s grace, we got this building,” he added.

Howard was looking for a building that was 4,000 to 6,000 square feet in size, but came to an agreement in less than three weeks to lease the former Save-A-Lot building, which is roughly 15,000 square feet in size. Its back room is about the same size as the 2,500-square-foot downtown location.

“It’s been an expensive move, but as soon as we get open it’s going to be amazing,” Howard said. "There's so much to do on top of moving my other store over here, building all the shelving, pricing everything to fill such a massive building. It's a lot of stress, and I love it." 

He noted most important in relocating is his customers’ well-being.

“In the old store, I hated it, but we were hardly even wheelchair accessible,” he said. “Our aisles were so narrow, and then because we had so much stuff, the narrow aisles we did have, there was just stuff piled on the floor. I don't know how we didn't get shut down sooner because we deserved it.”

Although people have been congratulating Howard on the move, he says his customers are the biggest winners.

For him, the new location is big enough to compete with Goodwill and launch another store in 18-24 months. 

Howard is also excited to now have a parking lot, loading dock, two bathrooms and a mop room. 

He says he’ll retain his current three employees, two of whom are full-time. Eventually, he foresees having about 10 employees at the new location.

Howard also plans to partner with more organizations in larger communities, with the continued goal of bringing more business to Rochester.

"We already had people traveling from two hours away to come to our little store, which blew my mind," he said. "But now that we have a way, way bigger building, I see people coming from even farther away, people coming more regularly from out of town and us becoming a destination."

Eventually, Howard envisions having multiple stores located in complexes of small businesses, mom-and-pop shops, all working together to support one another.

"The Community Project is so much more than a thrift store," he said. "It's about helping the community wherever it goes."

Knowing that the move will take some time to get used to, Howard simply asks that people help spread the word. 

"Since we can't get walk-in traffic anymore from downtown, I would just like the community to let all their friends know that we're here," he said.