There has been a lot of movement from location to location for local thrift store Big Blue Bargains since its original opening, but the Swampscott community has continued showing up and showing love.
Kristen Dishman founded Big Blue Bargains as a 501(c)(3) back in 2012, three years after the Magic Hat Thrift Shop in Marblehead inspired her to create a similar model in Swampscott.
“My sister and I had gone to the Magic Hat to get our daughters ballet shoes back in 2009, and they said, ‘Oh you should start one in Swampscott,’” Dishman said.
Her interest was sparked by “seeing how many people were shopping there, the enthusiasm from the volunteers and just seeing how much of a need there was.”
“Not everybody can afford to buy new, and the kids grow out of things so quickly,” she said. “They had hockey skates, sports equipment, things that we thought, ‘Geez, we just give it to Goodwill, and it could be going back to kids and families in our community, too.’”
The nonprofit’s board recently shifted to a new group of volunteer moms who, among the four of them, have 13 kids aged 9 years old down to 4 months old.
“Everyone who was on the (original) board, our kids are all out of the school, and it was just time for new enthusiasm,” Dishman said. “We said [to the new board], ‘Hey, go for it.’ I didn’t want to just close the nonprofit status and lose that because I knew it was really hard to get once you close it.”
The thrift store is now based out of a portable classroom at Clarke Elementary School at 155 Norfolk Ave. Its hours are Tuesdays 5-7 p.m., Thursdays 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Big Blue Bargains’ Board Vice President Laura Lynn said, “There’s a lot of appetite for Big Blue Bargains.” She added that it’s not just the Swampscott community coming together. She has also met shoppers from Lynn, Saugus and Marblehead.
“I just said to myself, ‘I have to buy a new frying pan,’ and this one’s nice and clean and everything,” first-time shopper Jane Leach said, showing off her new purchase.
It’s important to the Big Blue Bargains board to ensure every customer feels as though they are truly getting a great deal when it comes to the pricing structure of the nonprofit. Most items are $10 or less, with an exception for some wall decor items that may be priced up to $15.
“We’re trying to be very deliberate in our pricing structure to move items and generate money so that it turns over. We just don’t want things sitting here. We’d rather just price it to move,” Lynn said. “We also want shoppers to feel like they’re getting a great bargain. We hear from a lot of people that are going into thrift stores and feeling like they’re not getting a great deal, so we want them to feel like they’re getting a great deal here.”
As a nonprofit, Lynn said Big Blue Bargains tries to “operate in a transparent manner.” She mentioned that some thrift stores aren’t nonprofits, which is why she tries to be very transparent about Big Blue Bargains’ operations – especially when it comes to who benefits from the proceeds. Big Blue Bargains’ Board President Rachel Taradash said it’s important to the board that all proceeds make their way back into the community.
Some recent beneficiaries of Big Blue Bargains are Friends of Swampscott Senior Center, Friends of Swampscott Library and Swampscott schools.
Material donations can be brought to the store during business hours. Be sure to separate clothing from household items. To find out what donation items are accepted or to make monetary donations, go to bigbluebargains.org/donate.
Volunteer Eden Clark said her work with Big Blue Bargains is more than just an outlet for her to give back to the Swampscott community. It’s also a chance to “see friendly faces” and “connect with different people from the neighborhood and elsewhere in town.”
She added, “It’s been a wonderful excuse to help purge my house, and I’m sure it is for everybody else.”
