Photos by Marie Mccolm The Nazarene Thrift Store Kids Store is officially open and manager Debbie Davis is excited about the opening. An official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held at the Nazarene Thrift Store Kids Store in October. The Nazarene Thrift Store Kids Store has everything baby and all the way up to size 18 for kids.

MONTE VISTA — An official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held at the Nazarene Thrift Store Kids Store in October. The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce was present for the ceremony and issued a plaque to the NTS Kids Store, that now hangs in the front of the store on the wall.

The NTS Kids Store is officially open and manager Barb Sears is excited about the opening.

“We are calling it NTS for kids,” Sears said. “This is still part of the Nazarene thrift store, but it is everything baby and all the way up to size 18 for kids. We are excited about opening, because we have already had a lot of traffic and people are purchasing more this way.”

Sears explained that even though all the items were formally located in their regular Nazarene Store, the items are selling better since the move.

“The funny thing was all these items were in the thrift store, but they didn’t sell as much,” she said. “We have had a lot of success with the move. There are more people with kids coming in. Things are selling better.”

Sears explained the reason behind the move.

“The move happened because we are planning on expanding one of our stores, Finer blessings,” Sears said. “We actually have three stores. The Nazarene thrift store, which is just your basic thrift store. We have NTS for kids, which is strictly for children, the store we had the ribbon cutting ceremony for. We also have Finer Blessings, which is new items, or better brand items. We needed to expand Finer Blessings. We had expanded Finer Blessings twice already in two years, but we are going to go with one final expansion of it in January, but we needed to free up more space in the main store and that was one of the reasons for the move to NTS Kids Store also. We do sell kids' stuff as well in Finer Blessings, it's just all new stuff and or better brands. Many people shop in our stores for Christmas.” 

Debbie Davis who operates the NTS Kids store for kids for Sears said, "I really like running the store. The store is doing really well. Customers have said that they like the way we have put everything for kids all together now, they have stated it's easier to shop at the store with their kids. They have commented that we have organized it well. They really like our inventory. I enjoy being here, because I love the kids. It's a lot of fun to see the kids look at toys and clothes. I have a wonderful job and I love working with the community." 

Sears who has had the Nazarene Thrift store for 14 years now, said she appreciates Davis, and the community and talked about how the thrift stores really try to give back to the community, too.

“If there is somebody in need of anything we certainly help,” Sears said. “When we had the fire in town, we gave as much to the victims as we could. We gave them toiletries and blankets, and we met their needs as much as we could. We give back to the community when they need it. We help our Fire Department, our Police Department, our Food Bank, anything like that we can do. We help. If our community asks, we are there for everyone. We wouldn’t have any stores at all if it wasn’t for our community, so we always try to give back. We appreciate everyone.” 

The NTS Thrift store is located at 730 1st Ave. in Monte Vista.