After more than 15 years of serving the community of Lompoc and supporting countless victims of domestic violence in Santa Barbara County, a longtime local nonprofit is being forced to shut its doors.
Second Time Around, a Lompoc thrift store that benefits the nonprofit organization Domestic Violence Solutions, will close its doors May 20.
According to Domestic Violence Solutions Executive Director Richard Kravetz, the decision came a few years after the store ceased to turn a profit for the organization, which in turn had to dip into its own funds to pay rent.
“That wasn’t supposed to be how it worked,” Kravetz told the Sun.
Second Time Around actually opened to the community more than 30 years ago, store general manager Judy Faget said. The store moved to and from a number of private residences before settling in to its current location at 110 W. Ocean Ave.
Beyond sending all of the store’s profits to Domestic Violence Solutions, Second Time Around was one of the few businesses that provided a path to employment for many in the community with certain obstacles, including juveniles and adult probation workers, as well as seniors looking to re-enter the workforce.
The store also frequently donated supplies to local schools and theaters, as well as goods directly to victims of domestic violence—including children—who were in transit and in need of something as basic as a couple of changes of clothes.
The store will continue to accept donations through May 8. Beginning May 16—the last week of operation—everything at Second Time Around will be marked at a 50 percent discount, including, Faget said, the store’s massive stockpile of Christmas and other holiday items that don’t typically make it to the selling floor during the off-season.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the store’s closure will relieve a little financial strain on Domestic Violence Solutions, which in the last four years has had to pump funds into the store to keep it going.
Prior to the economic downturn, the store was generating between $20,000 and $25,000 annually for the nonprofit, Kravetz said. Despite the building’s landlord lowering the rent and store managers reducing hours of operation, Kravetz said the money simply wasn’t there. Kravetz had to decide whether to close the store before its lease expired in June.
“It was an agonizing decision, but we have to preserve our core programs, and I can’t look forward and honestly say that things are going to be getting better [with upcoming state budgets],” Kravetz said. “This way we’ll be eliminating that loss. Believe me, we’ve really tried everything to avoid this.”
Domestic Violence Solutions is Santa Barbara County’s only nonprofit organization to provide domestic violence prevention counseling and services, such as a 24-hour shelter for women and children, transitional housing, and victim advocacy.
The store’s four full-time and three part-time employees will receive a “modest” severance package, and the management is currently working to help them find other jobs, Faget said.
“We want to thank everybody in the community for helping us and victims of domestic violence for so long,” Faget said.
Goods not sold in the last weeks of operation will be donated to thrift stores in Santa Maria.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 5, 2011.