Final

SALE

Women's ORT is closing its
resale shop in Berkley.

Signs on the ClothespORT's windows tell of the store's closing.

ALAN HITSKY

Associate Editor

T

he ClothespORT, Women
American ORT's used clothing
store, has been a fixture in the
Detroit area for 40 years. But by the
end of next month, the store on 12
Mile Road in Berkley will permanently
close.
While donations, customers and
gross sales have remained steady, the
cost of doing business has eaten up the
profits and, ultimately, the store's con-
tributions to ORT's worldwide net-
work of vocational schools.
"We want to close while things are
still positive," said Janet Berman of
Farmington Hills, a past president of
Michigan Region ORT and a past chair
of its ClothespORT volunteer commit-
tee. "We don't want to wait until things
are negative."
The store will continue to accept
donations until mid-August, and is
expected to close Aug. 27.
When the store began in Detroit
years ago, the building space was
donated and the operation was com-
pletely run by ORT volunteers. Today,
Berman said, many younger people are
working and prefer to volunteer on
shorter-term ORT projects. Older vol-
unteers often spend time out of town.
The store now is in rented space, has a
paid staff of two full-time and one
part-time employees and has insurance,
tax and utility bills.
The ClothespORT moved from
Ferndale to Berkley in 1999, and the
store expanded into adjacent space in

2001.
While declining to discuss specific
figures, Michelle Passon, Michigan
Region ORT director of development,
said the store has in excess of $100,000
in gross sales each year. But expenses
are now taking nearly all of the gross.
"The store is self-sustaining," Passon
said, "but what is the point of the
effort if we can't sustain the organiza-
tion?"
Passon and Berman said the decision
to close the store was made more diffi-
cult because of the service it provided.
In addition to a needy population of

customers, ORT volunteers who picked
up clothing donations often visited
with selliors who were regular donors.

NCJW Stores Remain

National Council of Jewish Women
has a thrift shop in Berkley --- one
block west of the ClothespORT on 12
Mile — and a second on East Lincoln
in Royal Oak. Irma Glaser of West
Bloomfield, NCJW fund-raising vice
president, said the NCJW and ORT
stores were "friendly competitors —
each one helps the other."
Glaser said NCJW sales were not as

Shopper Gloria Nicolaescu of Berkley pays for her purchases as Gracia Nicolaescu,
21, of Berkley and Alex Maxwell, 21, of Ferndale work.

strong as they once were. She declined
to give specific figures, but added, "A
good part of our ability to run our
organization comes from those thrift
shops."
Glaser and Berman believe the local
economy, competition from discount
retail stores and customer transporta-
tion issues may have affected the thrift
stores.
Glaser said the NCJW rents both of
its store locations and employs a total
of 11 people. The Royal Oak NCJW
Thrift Shop is the smaller of the two
locations, but is currently doing more
business, she said. The Berkley store
now includes a gallery of used furni-
ture.
At one time, Hadassah had a thrift
store for used clothing, but for many
years has held an annual rummage sale
instead.
Jewish Home and Aging Services
operated a used furniture store, the
Home Resale Shop, for a year in 2001-
2002. The store was located at 11 Mile
and Evergreen in the Lathrup Landing
shopping strip, which was recently lev-
eled to make way for a bank building.
Carol Rosenberg, executive director
of JHAS, said the Home Resale Shop
was doing well "for a first-year busi-
ness" and "the community was very
generous in its donations. But, in the
wake of the 9-11 [terrorist attacks] , we
wanted to concentrate on our core
services and programs."
Rosenberg and JHAS Finance
Director Lorene Suidan believe there
is a need for such stores "and we would
consider it again in the future."

❑

7/21
2005

21