If you need Christmas decorations or other items, this local thrift store can probably help
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IDAHO FALLS – If you’re looking for a bargain this holiday shopping season, then the Ultimate Thrift Store in Idaho Falls may be a place you want to visit.
Located in a quaint little building off Northgate mile, the Ultimate Thrift Store offers a wide variety of used, secondhand items. Its inventory includes everything from home decor items and clothing to tables, dressers and beds.
“Anything you can think of, we sell it,” co-owner Mellissa Butler tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We get a lot of costumes. We have a section for wigs and stuff like that. They’re really popular all year long.”
The Ultimate Thrift Store is a family-owned business that takes your donated items and then resells them for a really low price.
“I try to keep the prices as low as possible,” Butler says. “Our clothes are $3. We sell shoes for $1 a pair.”
With Christmas just around the corner, Butler says decorations are really popular right now.
“A lot of people are coming in for decor — not just for their tree, but to decorate the outside or inside of their house. A lot of people come in looking for the blow-ups (decorations) to decorate their yard, or Christmas lights.”
Butler and her husband save the Christmas items they get throughout the year and start selling them in November. This year, they had 30 artificial trees for sale. Butler says they were completely sold out before the end of the month.
The Ultimate Thrift Store first opened in Shelley six years ago. The idea for the shop came from a trend she saw among her friends and neighbors.
“We noticed after people had a yard sale or similar type of thing, they would just throw away their items,” Butler says. “I wasn’t working at the time and always wanted to open a thrift store so I just did it.”
They closed their Shelley store earlier this year and opened their Idaho Falls store at 190 Lomax St. in August.
“We started looking in Idaho Falls and a customer had this building available,” says Butler.
Though they see a lot of customers from Shelley and surrounding areas, the bulk of their customers now come from Idaho Falls.
“We see a new customer come in every day. Word-of-mouth goes a long way,” says Phillip Butler, Mellissa’s husband.
Phillip spends a lot of time fixing or repairing items they receive, but it’s interacting with the customers that he enjoys most.
If you’ve never been to the Ultimate Thrift Store, Mellissa says you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of items and how low the prices are.
You can drop off your unwanted items at the store anytime. The hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. But if you don’t feel like dropping off your items, Butler says they will pick it up at your house.
“People can call us anytime to schedule a pick up. A lot of times we can do it the same day,” Mellissa says.
To schedule a pick up, call (208) 403-2886. Visit the Facebook page to learn more.
If you want your business featured in the Small Business Spotlight, email rett.nelson@eastidahonews.com. Please use “SBS” in the subject line.
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