Gail Holleran spent hours reaching up to strip away old wallpaper, brushing paint on walls and decorating the interior of the Nearly New Shop in Binghamton.
The lifelong Binghamton native said she didn’t mind all the hard work she put in.
“We are helping our community and helping people to have a little better life and making things easier for them,” she said.
Holleran is the co-chair of the shop’s committee along with Michelle O’Loughlin of Binghamton. The shop sells used clothing that is deliberately priced low to help people in need. Run by the Ladies of Charity, the shop has been operating in various locations around Binghamton since 1969.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the shop closed its doors at its former location at 100 Main St., Binghamton. The shop reopened last year at a new location: 331 Main St. on the city’s West Side, Holleran said.
Turning a vacant storefront into the Nearly New Shop wasn’t an easy task, Holleran said. Wallpaper had to be stripped off walls. Every wall needed to be repainted. Clothing racks had to be carried in.
“It needed a lot of work,” said Holleran, who spent many days helping to get the building in shape.
She still spends a lot of time in the shop along with about 25 volunteers who sort donations, hang clothes, run the cash register and do countless other tasks.
All the racks, hangars and other accessories for the store were donated from the former BonTon store in Johnson City, Holleran said.
All clothing is donated, O’Loughlin said. Anything the shop cannot use is donated to local churches and other charitable organizations.
“One way or the other, everything is used somehow,” she said.
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Inside the shop are racks of blouses, pants and dresses. There are sections available for men, women and children. Two dressing rooms are available for people to…
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