Secondhand store helps those in need

By D.a. Wilkinson

The secondhand thrift store even offers shoppers a layaway plan.

SALEM — Many people these days don’t want a good buy as much as need one.

Second Blessing secondhand store quietly reopened Feb. 1 at 146 S. Broadway Ave. as a second-hand store just in time for the snow storms that blanketed Ohio.

Jo Ann Marshall, who is managing the store, said they had to keep digging out from all the snow.

The store is the idea of her parents, Pastor Larry Paxson and his wife, Lynn, who are ministers at the Faith Chapel Fellowship, which is a block away from the store.

The Second Blessing store that had been located on State Street in a smaller storefront has closed.

Part of the larger store is to help spread the good news of Christianity, organizers, said.

Marshall said that the store is officially a nonprofit organization.

“All proceeds will go back into the store,” she added.

You can tell you are at Second Blessing when you see the “Aaron’s Books” canopy that remains in place. The book store previously occupied the space used by Second Blessing.

And there are many, many books left from the bookstore. Paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks are $1.

The store emphasizes clothing for men, women and children along with household items. But there are there are chairs, paintings, comic books, bookshelves, and used appliances for sale.

The men’s department will be in the basement.

The store even offers layaways.

The building also will house “your basic recovery group.” It’s not running yet, she said. It will start after a meeting room is ready.

The biggest treasure that has appeared so far was a “very old” Bible dating to the 1800s with the names of family members in it.

The Bible also contained “big, old tintype photos,” according to David Bodendorfer of Salem, a volunteer at the store. The Bible was not especially valuable, but the family was thrilled to get the old photos, he said.

Marshall said that word of the store is growing in other counties. “We’re getting a lot of calls,” she said.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

wilkinson@vindy.com