There are plenty of thrift stores and discount stores around Ravenna. But there has never been a store that offers both thrift and discount shopping until the This and That New and Used Goods store opened its doors on Jan. 31.
“We have two aspects,” store owner Diana Wilson told The Weekly Villager. “We have the thrift store section-everyone enjoys the thrift store-they come and there are lots of fun items to find. You never know what you are going to find back there; then the front section of the store is actually new products that are at a discounted rate.”
Although the business officially opened on Jan. 31, the Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce officially recognized the store’s opening when it hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 12.
For Wilson, being thrifty is something that has always come naturally to her.
A Streetsboro High School graduate, Wilson said that her mother was always very handy, helping her grandmother run a ministry for the church where people picked up gently-used goods and gave them to others who lived in the inner city. Wilson added that she enjoyed going to Goodwill stores to find all sorts of items.
Up until the beginning of this year, Wilson had worked as the manager of Gionino’s Pizza in Aurora but wanted to bring a new business to Portage County that offered shoppers the best of both worlds.
“I very much enjoy thrift shopping and things like that, even just finding things that are brand new at a discounted rate. I thought what better than to combine those two things and bring it to other people and see if it brings them joy as well,” she said.
Wilson had done buying and selling on a Facebook marketplace and wanted to try and bring the joy of finding a good deal to Ravenna.
With the help of her fiancée, Rob Durocher, they found a location in Ravenna that suited her vision for the store, an area that had a downtown feel to it.
According to her, Ravenna was the perfect place to set up shop because the citizens of Ravenna are always looking for a good deal.
“Definitely in Ravenna there are all types of people. I have been here for a little bit and can see there are all types of people,” she noted. “You have your high class, low class, middle class and everybody can come together in a store like this and just find something that they need.”
In the front half of the store, there is a collection of small items that can fit on a shelf that are available at 40-50% off the usual retail price. Wilson said that she and Durocher purchase their discount inventory from an independent distributor in pallets, but usually don’t target a specific niche item.
They like to be surprised when they examine the latest pallets they receive, which offers plenty of variety.
“I really enjoy the little stuff, when you go out and look at this cool cup I found for the kitchen, little random things that you like to have around your house that are different, something that you may not have wanted to buy brand new that was expensive but then you can find it second-hand,” Wilson said.
In the back of the store are donated items including clothing, children’s toys, dish sets, mirrors, wall hangings and just a little bit of everything. Wilson said that the thrift items usually are sold at prices either at or under $9.00.
“We put an ad out on our Facebook page and word of mouth through our friends and families. They helped us out a lot to get it out there that we were looking for stuff. I had a lot of co-workers at Gionino’s; a lot of their families donated items to me, which was helpful,” she said.
Wilson added that the store frequently accepts calls or emails that notify them of donated items within a 20-mile radius that adds to their already existing stock. All people who donate receive a $15.00 shopping voucher at the store.
Although the business has just opened, Wilson said that she can foresee the shop being a mainstay in Ravenna.
“A lot of stores don’t offer both aspects of it, the new and used section so that is what we liked,” she noted. “I think it all boils down to the thrill of a good find. I think there are a lot of people in life that just like to find something that they might need or even not know they needed at a great price.”
