United Community’s thrift store to close

United Community’s Back Porch Thrift Store in the Sacramento Center will close permanently on October 31, the Richmond Highway-based non-profit announced last week.

United Community cited declining sales in the past five years as a reason for the closure. The decline was caused in part by the addition of other thrift stores along the Richmond Highway corridor, United Community said.

“With competitor thrift stores in the area, the Back Porch operation is no longer operationally sustainable,” United Community said in an FAQ on its website.

United Community said it will not be scaling back any of its other services. Executive Director Alison DeCourcey said in a press release that savings from the thrift store’s closing will go into the agency’s other services for families and individuals in the Richmond Highway area.

“Closing the Back Porch will allow us to concentrate on direct services that community members have counted on us to provide, such as the food pantry, utility and rent support, affordable childcare, ESL and citizenship classes, job readiness, case management and more,” DeCourcey said.

United Community said it plans to partner with a local thrift store in order to provide clients with needed items. A formal announcement should be coming in a few weeks, United Community said.

The Back Porch Thrift Store’s hours of operation will not change between now and the closing, and it has begun offering discounts on existing merchandise. The store is no longer accepting donations.

The Back Porch Thrift Store traces its roots back to United Community’s founding in 1969. Back then volunteers from the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church offered items out of a trailer each Saturday morning at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Today United Community serves more than 9,000 people annually, according to its website. It operates a basic needs program, two neighborhood centers, an early learning center, a literacy and citizenship program and more.