After 15 years serving the Yelm community, DC’s Treasures Thrift Store will open its second location just a short distance away in McKenna, next to Worthy Coffee Co.
The reason for expansion is simple: they needed the room.
“We get a lot of donations from our wonderful customers and we have so many clothes that we just really needed to expand our clothing section,” co-owner Melynda Campbell said. “Our other store is pretty small. So, we just needed more room for clothes. Here we are.”
The origin for DC’s Treasures began when Melynda Campbell and her husband, co-owner Jim Campbell, started buying storage units and reselling their contents at discount prices.
“We’d have a couple huge yard sales each year, but then that got out of hand,” Melynda Campbell said. “We just decided to open up a secondhand store. So we bought the laundromat, (and) turned it into the store that it is now.”
Visitors to the new location will find a larger space — and a more focused selection.
“The original location has pretty much anything that you’d find in a thrift store: tools and toys and jewelry and dishes, household items — all that sort of thing — toiletries and clothing was there before,” Campbell said. “This store will have clothing, accessories like purses and stuff, and some jewelry, too.”
Expect “tons” of shoes, too, according to David Campbell, manager of DC’s Treasures, and son of the Campbells.
The fresh location is aptly named DC’s Treasures Clothing Store.
“Very excited to open the second location for our community,” David Campbell said. “We’re happy to get affordable clothing to our area. People don’t have to go all the way to Lacey or Spanaway. We got a little piece of heaven local for everybody.”
DC’s Treasures has a reputation beyond affordable finds. The winner of the 2024 Best of the Nisqually Valley award for best thrift store offers a free-food section with canned and dried foods. Community members regularly contribute items from the food banks.
“Even during the summer, we get fresh produce,” David Campbell said. “People from the farms will bring us stuff, which is really cool. The free food section is great.”
The Campbells also utilize what they call a pay-it-forward board. David Campbell says he got the idea from a restaurant owner in New York City who wanted a way to address free-meal requests.
“He posted a pay-it-forward wall where people would prepay for meals,” Campbell said, adding that people could then come in and order one of the prepaid meals off the board, free of charge.
“I tried to figure out: how could I get that into my thrift store? How can I help somebody? So, people give five, 10 dollars, and it helps the next person get a coat or a hat or whatever to stay warm.”
The donated change from customers often helps those who can’t afford the full portion of their bill.
“Say their bill is $30, but they only have $25 on them, they can use a portion of what’s on the wall for their bill,” Campbell said. “People can come in with cold, wet clothes, get something dry reasonably off the board. I usually do 10, 15 dollars max per person because we got to spread the wealth to everybody.”
The new store is set to open on April 1, just in time for the 15-year anniversary of the original location. To commemorate, the Campbells will offer 50 percent off all clothing for the first two weeks.
DC’s Treasures Thrift Store, meanwhile, will host a one-day 50-percent-off-everything sale on April 1.
DC’s Treasures Clothing Store is located at 9111 346th St. S., just off the Spanaway McKenna Highway.
The original thrift store is at 106 E. Yelm Ave.
