Brad Wohlman has focused on the big picture when putting together the Full Life Thrift Store on Kuakini Highway in Kailua-Kona.
But he hasn’t missed the little details, such as making sure the store doesn’t have that typical, musty, used-clothes odor. The store, located at the front of Pottery Terrace, opened in early September, after Wohlman spent a few months rehabilitating the building and collecting donations.
“We are getting great donations,” Wohlman said. “It’s sometimes like Christmas.
Recent treasures include a full-length woman’s wool jacket, a “loaded” Volvo that Wohlman described as a “cream puff” of a car and two complete dress uniforms from the USS Kamehameha. The store has a closet full of guitars, multiple leather jackets, piles of shoes, shelves of books and so many clothes Wohlman is planning to soon install another display rack, to double the clothing selection. There’s even a white wedding dress with a train so long that Wohlman, a tall guy, can’t hold it high enough to keep the hem from dragging on the floor when it is fully extended.
Not everything in the store is used. Full Life participants have created art, jewelry and novelty items — including a glass jar labeled “Kona vog” — to sell in the store as well. One of the jewelry artisans does some of her creating in the shop. For her, it’s a chance to talk story and be social, Wohlman said. And she’s selling more jewelry now than she did at her previous location.
When the store first opened, people brought in clothing donations in old suitcases. Customers bought those, too, to fill with the little and big finds they came across at the store.
Some of the items Wohlman said he plans to list on Craigslist or eBay, things like winter coats that aren’t as likely to sell in Hawaii.
Wohlman, who greets every customer who comes in the store, said everything is going pretty well so far.
“We haven’t had a bad day yet,” he said. “But we’ve had some really good days.”
Wohlman and Full Life have high hopes for the store. They plan to have high-functioning Full Life clients eventually participating in the store, maybe sorting and cleaning donations, doing small repairs and, if Wohlman can make his full plan come to fruition, delivering coffee, smoothies, snacks and sandwiches from a walk-up food stand he wants to open.
One thing has slowed down the store’s progress, Wohlman said. He’s committed to doing all of the repairs and building improvements by the book, including building an entrance ramp. He planned for about 80 work hours to build it himself, and even drew up plans, but when he went to the Planning Department, learned he needed an architect’s drawing and a contractor to do construction. Completing those steps has taken longer than expected, he said.
While working on getting the building into shape for the store, Wohlman also learned a bit about its history. Once a church and a real estate office, it began as a restaurant where Cornish game hens were served in homemade clay pots, hence the development was named Pottery Terrace.
No one has yet donated one of those pots, Wohlman said.
“I’ve been asking,” he said. “I’d love to have one.”
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.