By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Arc of the Central Plains has purchased the former Amphenol Adronics building, 608 E 13th St., Hays, and plans to relocate its thrift store there.
The purchase for an undisclosed amount was completed on Wednesday.
Kathy McAdoo, Arc executive director, said the new building will give the thrift store 13,000 additional square feet of space.
However, renovations are needed, and the move from the thrift store's current location on Main Street will not happen for at least 18 months, McAdoo said.
The thrift store supports the Arc's mission to bring enrichment and purpose to the lives of all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through participation in activities, education and lifelong inclusion in every aspect of community life.
The Arc owns its building at 600 Main. McAdoo said the board has not determined what it will do with the Main Street building once the thrift store has moved.
Sarah Erickson, thrift store manager, said the new building will give the store more space to process donations.
"Right now, we are almost working on top of each other in that back room. We would like to have space for each person to have their own work station," she said.
The sales floor space will be almost as much as the full square footage of the Arc's current building.
The store currently uses off-site storage and on-site storage containers and still has been forced to temporarily halt donations at certain times because of space constraints.
"We will have more space to organize things on the shelves better, and make it easier for our customers to shop," Erickson said.
The Arc is also planning wider aisles.
"It will just be a better shopping experience," McAdoo said.
Erickson said as the store prepares for the move, it will sell off some of its inventory.
The former Amphenol Adronics has a parking lot. The Arc's current building has very limited parking, most of which is on the street.
McAdoo said she thinks the Arc staff will miss being part of downtown Hays.
"We love our neighbors," she said. "Our neighbors are great, but we're bursting at the seams."
McAdoo said the Arc will be working with an architect on the renovation plans.
The restrooms will need to be made accessible. The building will require some demolition, construction of fitting rooms and reconfiguration on the south side of the building to create a donation drop-off area.
This is year is the 60th anniversary of the Arc of the Central Plains. The Arc is planning a fundraising campaign to kick off in June that will help fund the new thrift store building renovations.
"We are in a very good place financially," McAdoo said. "I feel we have been very good with the money that we have raised from the donations that have been given to us."
The Arc opened an new activity center, 229 W. 10th St, in January.
McAdoo added, "We have only been in this building since 2015, and the growth here has been astronomical, so we hope that trend continues."
You can learn more about donating to the thrift store on the Arc's website.
The thrift store remains open. You can shop 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Also follow the Arc on Facebook.