Something I Said
By DWIGHT HOBBES
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop is, in very good terms as the euphemistic parlance goes, a beast: the South Minneapolis operation has made it through the corona contagion thus far, the catastrophic 2020 riot and the ongoing economic climate which, stimulus or no stimulus, is in lousy shape. That rioting, supposedly in the name of George Floyd, absolutely devastated the very community it’s alleged to have been for the sake of. Overnight – actually the course of a few days – the business outlets along Lake Street that it didn’t shut down were flatout destroyed, depriving whole neighborhoods of affordable goods and services in an area where affordable goods and services amount to a godsend. Not to mention store staff glad to have a job with all the contagion-related layoffs and firings suddenly were left wondering how to pay their bills.
Fortunately, more than a year later, much, in fact most, of Lake Street’s thriving commerce has returned. At 10th Ave., though, Family Dollar is a glaring exception. With this location of the chain still boarded up, households in the immediate vicinity sustain a serious hardship. Like the name says, families were able to stretch a dollar shopping for necessities. Parents, for instance, got a good price on things like Pampers. You could get a decent price on even name brand pet food. When you weren’t able to make it to the supermarket for groceries, you could just fill in a few blanks, especially a day or two days before payday when you feel the pinch most.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop can’t do anything about those concerns, but it remains a resource for useful items like clothes, electronic equipment (including desktop and laptop computers), dishes, and more. It is a modest but nonetheless valuable asset to a community still coping with hard times.
The Minneapolis St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, 2939 12th Ave. South (612-722-7882), is within walking distance of the #14 #5 bus lines and not far from the #5. Closer if you catch a #21 practically to the front door.
