Ongoing Renovations to the Survival Center

The Franklin Area Survival Center has been undergoing some much needed renovations to the center--some because of safety issues and others to give us more room for growth. After Christmas we emptied the Christmas room and moved all of our housewares in. All of our glasses, bakeware, silverware, lamps...are now in there. This past holiday weekend (President's Day) we moved our cashiers over in front of the office. It allows the cashiers full viewing range of the entire store. With the added space within the store, we have been able to enlarge our furniture area and add some additional space for clothes and linens. Linens are now on shelving near the dressing room. The booknook was moved up to the front of the store where the cashiers use to be, so that customers would have better lighting. So far, we have heard very positive responses to the changes with a couple of negative comments (you can't always please everyone!). The changes really open up the space for the thrift store allowing for better cleaning and more space for larger items. Now that everyone can see our items better they have been flying out of the store. We are now putting out new items every day, so stop in and check out our new look and of course to shop!

We are also in the process of updating our electical throughout the building. Due to age, it has become a fire hazard and needed to be replaced ASAP. Next Saturday, February 27, will be the final round of work, so the store will be closed since the power to the building will be off for several hours resulting in no heat.

A few weeks ago, I discovered a black electical wire in the office, followed it to a outlet where it was plugged in. The power pack was extremely hot, I unplugged it. Another board member and I searched to find out what this cord went to but could not find it. Even 15 minutes later, the plug was still hot. So, needless to say, I did not replug the cord. I called the electrician and he checked it out and found out that the cord was to our security camera in the front hallway. The system was very old and its life had run out. It had heated up so bad that the lense had fused into the plastic of the camera! So, while the electrical is being done, our security system has been upgraded, too. Since we are open longer hours now and our cashiers work alone, we need a system that is working correctly.

Thank you for being patient these last few months, but the light is shining through the tunnel and we are almost done!