‘Pick of the Litter’ store opens today, is already stocked with donated goods for early customers

‘Give me a high-paw 5,’ the cat and dog figures in the ‘Pick of the Litter Thrift Store’ logo seem to be indicating. – Courtesy Graphic HSWC

The Humane Society of Warren County’s second downtown operation – this one a thrift store – opens today and is already stocked with items for sale and a give away snacks and drinks table for early arrivals.

There to greet customers will be the newly appointed store manager, Brian Anderson, who lately worked for the Blue Ridge Hospice, and animal shelter executive director Meghan Bowers and others from the shelter who spent the last month cleaning, painting and otherwise perking up the property at 450 South Commerce Avenue, Suite “F”.

In the same block is the year-old downtown spay/neuter clinic with a full time veterinarian.

The thrift shop is expected to generate considerable income as the shelter’s many animals, mostly dogs and cats, get busier as the years go by. Bowers expressed the hope the new store will provide “a constant source of income for the homeless animals” at the Julia Wagner Animal Shelter at 1245 Progress Drive off Shenandoah Shores Road.

Each year, while the County provides roughly half of the $700,000 needed to provide a home for the homeless, the shelter’s overseeing board of directors and shelter staff must raise about half of that amount to meet overall expenses. The launch of the thrift store has cost $50,000, and is considered “money well spent.”

Today, and for the future, “well behaved dogs and cats on leashes will be welcome to join their humans for a unique, animal friendly shopping experience, and frequent shopper incentives which our team hopes will bring back visitors again and again.

Where to go to buy or contribute goods to be sold? The location is a little hard to find the first time out so here’s a brief description of how to get there: turn off Commerce Avenue at the small road just north of the Speedway gas station. The store is behind the gas station to the left, one of several businesses there including the spay/neuter clinic .Also nearby is a commercial Pet Daycare and Boarding Center.

Shelter personnel were anxious to draw attention to one of its top money earners – the “Tails and Ales” annual party at the Front Royal Moose Lodge on Nov.19.

For further information, call 540-551-3054, the store number, and for “Tails and Ales” call the shelter at 540- 635-4734.