CULLMAN, Ala. – Victoria’s Hope Thrift and Treasures, a local thrift shop known for letting families in need shop for free and for donations to other local charities from its profits, reopened Thursday morning in a new and larger facility at 1415 Second Ave. NW (U.S. Highway 31) in Cullman, to accommodate more customers and a growing inventory.
Late Tuesday evening after a day of teaching followed by work at the new shop, Victoria’s Hope Founder April Bowen German told The Tribune, “We had not been necessarily looking for another building, but we definitely had outgrown where we were. We loved the location because it was close for a good bit of our clients and customers, so we wanted to stay close, and this just fell into our lap.
“A precious volunteer we have saw a building on Highway 31 that looked to be absolutely perfect. I loved it, but quickly assumed there would be no way we could afford the rent- 2020 was hard, and there was no extra money for a larger rent payment. Yet to our surprise, it was well in our budget. We made a few phone calls, visited the place and immediately fell in love with it. It’s still just five minutes away in a vehicle from our old location, it has a garage door for unloading larger donations, more room and plenty of wall space to display various things. Oh, and a water fountain. I just thought that was the coolest thing, so I told everyone about it; my teenage sons like to make fun of me about that! And of course, it can’t even be used right now, but I still love it.”
Victoria’s Hope began in a small space in Dodge City, using separate storage, then moved to Cullman as the charity’s leaders saw a need to expand. Continued growth in both need and opportunity led to yet another move.
Said German, “We quickly outgrew our old space as we have all of our other spaces in the past, but we just had to make do the best we could. Yet it was so hard to get things organized. At the new shop, we are able to space things out and have room for various things like jewelry, scarves, etc. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!
“I’m beyond excited to reveal the new place to everyone. It’s been a long hard road, and a lot of hard work, and I just can’t wait to see it all come together. Thank you so much to our family and friends who have devoted so much time helping us with the move. This community never ceases to amaze me. Thank you to the community for all the recent donations; I am so excited about some of the brand new items that we will have available that we didn’t before. And of course, we will still continue our 3,2,1 sale at the new store. We promise our prices will not change. As long as you as a community keep donating it to us, we will continue to get it right out the door to someone else with a great bargain. That’s what it’s all about, helping each other.”
Victoria’s Hope recently lost one of its most popular attractions, store clerk and hat authority Robert Dale Squires, after a battle with COVID-19. Visitors to the new store will have an opportunity to remember their favorite customer service rep with a collection of meaningful artifacts that will not be priced to sell.
German shared, “A new fixture you will be seeing in the store is Robert’s bike. He loved that bike; he rode it everywhere. After he started helping us full-time, Craig told him he didn’t have to ride his bike anymore, that he could just swing by and pick him up, but there were days he was adamant about riding it. He loved it. His beautiful sister Sally has been kind enough to donate his bike to us, so it will be a permanent fixture at Victoria’s Hope, along with his silly hats. It was very bittersweet moving the same week we lost Robert, but I know he would be so proud of the new building.”
German concluded, “I want to give a huge thanks to Chad and Melanie Burks for giving this girl a chance. Chad told me when I first rented from him that he believed I could do it and has been so supportive this past 18 months. It’s not an easy job renting to us (laughing), but he handled it like a champ.
“These past few years have been hard for everyone, so getting this new building is like a new beginning for me. It’s still hard to believe how far we have come in such a short period of time, and I can’t wait to see all the things God has planned for the future.”
The store is open Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Find out more at www.facebook.com/victoriashope1952.
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