Lovelady Thrift Store
Lovelady Thrift Store are thrift stores operated for the benefit of the Lovelady Center with locations in Eastwood and Clay.
The first Lovelady Thrift Store is located at Century Park East at 7720 Ludington Lane in Eastwood, and occupies a 36,900 square-foot building built originally for now-bankrupt national electronic chain Circuit City, which abandoned the site around 2007 and moved to Colonial Promenade at Tutwiler Farm in Trussville. The site was vacant until March, 2010 when the Lovelady Thrift Store opened.
Brenda Spahn, executive director and founder of Lovelady Center, partnered with Greg Giles, president of Brook Valley Management, who invested the more than $300,000 it took to open the thrift store. Giles' family operates successful thrift stores in other areas.
The thrift store is the main source of income for the Lovelady Center, a 9- to 12-month faith-based residential treatment and recovery center for women and children located in the former East End Memorial Hospital in East Lake.
In 2016, a second thrift store was opened in Clay at 2402 Old Springville Road in a 56,000 square-foot former Winn-Dixie supermarket location.
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (January 7, 2010) "Lovelady Center charity, ministry transforming vacant Circuit City store in Eastwood into thrift store." The Birmingham News
- Dedman, Christie (March 8, 2010) "The Lovelady Thrift Store is open for business in Irondale (sic)." The Birmingham News
- Buttram, Scott (January 16, 2016) "Lovelady Thrift Store to open in Clay." Trussville Tribune