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Inside of the new Kiwanis Thrift Sale West

(Jack Walsworth- The Ann Arbor News)

Shoppers looking for a good deal will have a new location to visit.

The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation, Inc. is opening a second sales location at 100 North Staebler Road.

The store will open for business on Saturday, June 13 with initial hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on all Saturdays, with the exception of a few holidays.

This is an addition to the downtown location, at 200 South 1st Street, which is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. each Saturday.

The Kiwanis Thrift Sale opened in 1927.

Dubbed the Kiwanis Center West, the new store has a sales area of 12,000 square feet. The store's emphasis is indoor and outdoor furniture, household furnishings and a general array of items other than clothing and dry goods.

Kiwanis was prompted to find a permanent warehouse building because it was operating out of donated space near the Ann Arbor Airport at 840 Plaza Drive.

The downtown thrift store will expand its clothing, household furnishings, hardware, electronics and other departments as most of the furniture department will be moved to the new location.

Kiwanis will continue their Voucher program which is charitable giving of goods directly to need recipients. The program will be conducted through the new location.

The new property will also allow Kiwanis to advance plans to expand its community service and direct community activities.

An environmental education preserve and center will be developed on 7.2 acres of woods and wetland owned by Kiwanis, in cooperation with Scio Township.

The township owns an adjoining 32 acres which lies fallow. Together, the land constitutes several different habitat areas that will be made available for study, education and preservation efforts in cooperation with local school systems, groups and agencies.

Within the new facility, an area ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 square feet will become available in January 2016 for office, warehouse or flex space use for non-profit based groups or profit companies.

This will allow the foundation to generate funds as a second source of income to help meet community needs and increase gifting.

According to the press release, discussions are ongoing with a major non-profit group for possible use of the office space in a condominium ownership format, but those discussions have yet to produce an agreement.

An additional 15,000 square feet of high bay warehouse will also open up with the prior owner of the property, Sheridan Books, relocating to new facilities being built in Chelsea.

The largest Kiwanis Club in Michigan, the club of Ann Arbor has 157 members, 75 volunteers and seven staff members and was chartered in 1921.

Proceeds from the thrift sales are used for charitable giving in the community. In 2014, Kiwanis grants were given to 80 charitable and community organizations, with 31 scholarships given to local high school seniors. Since 2004, giving has exceeded $2 million.

Jack Walsworth is an intern reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Contact him via email at jwalswor@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.