Thrift is Back on Mill Street!

Thrift is of great revenue -Marcus Tullius Cicero 

In August of 2011, there were two thrift stores open along the Mill Street corridor in Bristol Borough.

One year later, both were gone.

That has changed  recently with the opening of  Anything and Everything for U on the right side of  the 300 block and with then opening of Spibonick Thrift Store right across the street on the left side of the merchant district.

Kinny Hicks owner of Anything &  Everything, opened his shop at the tail end of winter with spring on the horizon hoping the warm weather and ever-increasing,  number of  people window shopping on Mill St would pay off.

And so far, Hicks says it has,  as he burned the midnight oil with the shop having been closed  hours before late  on a June Tuesday night.

Adding new items daily he said has helped, plus some of the additional offerings the thrift shop has that fall in the non-traditional realm such as the mixed tape collection, notary services and The Decal Outlet part of the business, are housed in back of the shop that also prints t-shirts, posters, signs and anything else you give can operator Jeff Paolella to work on.

Paolella supports a number of local non-profit sports youth organizations with rock bottom prices for shirts and decals, and said he’s pretty busy with his end of the business most days, he’s been doing shirts and decals for years in in the Levittown area.

As the classic rock from his radio played on, Paolella went through the steps of his design making efforts on an order of shirts, as we discussed recent local news.

Paolella said most of what he does can be completed via e-mail, the business Facebook page or with a phone call and downloading or sending of images. And since he has another job working for Capital Health in Trenton at the moment, conducting business online works for him and his customers perfectly.

As Paolella is often heard telling potential customers, “you think it, we make it!”

On most days, the shops are brimming  with customers browsing the many offerings Hicks and company have to offer at discounted prices.  As one customer said leaving the shop last week, “this is the kind of shop we really needed here in the borough, especially with the budget I have.

Among some of the offerings on sale such as sneakers, furniture, and electronics, they are also offering  cell phone provider services.

So they do have a little of everything, Hicks said.

Rick Naylor, who has been in the thrift business now for a little more than a year and a half, said he moved Spibonick from Bristol Township to the borough for space reasons and “because I grew up here.”

He always hoped he could afford a space on Mill Street, and when the opportunity presented itself, he did not hesitate, Naylor explained.

It’s a homecoming of sorts, he said.

If the first 30 days of being here are any indication, Spiboinick Thrift will thrive in the heart of the borough business district.

“We had the best month ever,” Naylor said about his business’s gross receipts since he opened the Bristol Township site more than a year ago.

Naylor, who has a good sense of his customer base and their needs, is in the process of preparing the 2nd floor of the shop with a reading room and other other items.

How many thrift shops you know offer a second-floor reading room?

“We’ll also have a senior and veterans card program to announce in the coming days,” Naylor said adding he’s thinking of doing the same for frequent customers.

Naylor said business has gotten off so fast he’ll most likely be looking to hire help real soon, he just hasn’t decided when. but its part of the plan.

If you look around the shop there is a potpourri of offerings to choose from.

Naylor took pride in showing off a  beach cooler on wheels one morning, saying “you’re going to love this” or the Bud Dry sign that’s a rare find, he said plugging it in to show the rare treasure he picked up recently.

Of course, Naylor said, there are the everyday things, like clothing, video games, movies, furniture, antiques and much more  at the thrift shop for customers.

Naylor spends the early morning hours of Saturday and Sunday perusing local flea markets, garage sales and the alike while stock piling Spibonick’s with merchandise.

It’s something he really looks forward to doing since there is always some nugget of gold, in a sense, he comes across.

“We’re  just getting started,”  he said pointing to the boxes of merchandise he’s yet to put out that he plans to display on the second floor of the shop.

Both businesses are banking on the promise of Mill Street and what it could potentially bring  in terms of success over the long haul.

To pull in customers from outside of the borough these days has been a challenge for every new business that’s opened in the shopping district.

With the Mill Street Crossing, floating docks and other new businesses are now looking at Mill Street differently these days, more than potential exists on the corridor.

The foot traffic this spring into summer has changed noticeably especially during weekdays.

With an array of varying businesses and offerings on the strip that pauses at Bristol Lions Park, one can only hope, Hicks, Paolella and Naylor said.

One thing is for sure, thrift is alive and breathing on Mill Street once again.

And for everybody, “that’s a good thing” a window shopper offered in the middle of a Thursday afternoon.

For more information and hours for the shops please visit their Facebook Pages by clicking here and liking their pages for updates and specials.

If  you check the Spibonick page, you might even find a little surprise for Saturday only.

For the Decal outlet you can also visit their webpage by clicking here 

Contributed: One of the many items for sale at Anything & Everything for You, recently/.