Gemm Shop reopens for regular hours

After 50 years in business, the pandemic couldn’t stop Trumansburg’s Gemm Shop for long. While the small, nonprofit thrift store was forced to close for a bit earlier this year and then to operate with limited hours, it was recently able to return to regular hours Monday through Saturday.

Chair of the Gemm Shop Board Karen Powers said that staff members were anxious to get back to work during this crucial time. The Gemm Shop has always been a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization, with all proceeds going back into the community in the form of donations.

“We were a little nervous about being shut down for so long,” Powers said. “But business has been strong since we reopened, and the community is incredibly supportive of the shop. It’s great to be part of the shop and to be able to honor the requests that come in and to help out — it’s the reason we exist.”

The used clothing and home goods store was founded five decades ago by a group of T-burg mothers: Ruth Bates, Doris Dunlop, Janet Elder, Margaret Huckle, Lanetta Husted, Margaret Northrup, Betty Reynolds and Millicent Tubbs. In an effort to raise money for their kids’ band uniforms, they set up a pop-up store. This one-time fundraiser proved to be a successful concept and grew into the store that locals now enjoy.

In a year that’s seen record highs for unemployment as well as huge jumps in food insecurity, the Gemm Shop was proud to be able to give a sizable donation to the Trumansburg and Interlaken food pantries. Longtime shop volunteer Pat Ditmar, 85, from Trumansburg, said that the donations were especially important to her this year.

“During this whole thing we really tried to help the food bank,” Ditmar said. “That’s what it’s all about, and every little bit helps. We get requests every month from different people.”

Over the years, the Gemm Shop has given thousands of dollars in the form of college scholarships and donations to local groups like the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, the afterschool program, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, fire companies, Hospicare, sports teams, Racker, the high school yearbook, chorus groups, the Trumansburg Fair Association, music boosters, the Rotary, the Ulysses Historical Society and the library.

In February, the shop was able to host an anniversary celebration at the store with a ribbon cutting ceremony and refreshments, as well as a performance from the high school jazz band in homage to the band uniforms that started it all. But due to COVID-19 restrictions, the rest of its events have been moved to next year. Staff hopes to host an exhibit and a fashion show at the Ulysses Historical Society in 2021, as well as participate in the summer parade.

Since COVID hit, Gemm has also seen a decline in volunteers and is looking for new people to join. Powers said that many of their volunteers are older and may be looking to retire in the next few years, and she encourages young people to join.

“We’re all there because we believe in the whole concept of what we’re doing,” Powers said. “It’s a really positive place to be.”

While the town and the world have changed significantly since 1970, things at the shop remain largely the same. The shop takes in donated clothing and home goods to resell and also sells items on consignment.

Employees take in clothing for infants to adults as well as things like bedding, rugs, craft materials, musical instruments, kitchen wares and pretty much anything that people want to get rid of. The interior and exterior of the shop have a distinct “old-timey” feel, and Powers said that this extends to their paper record-keeping systems, too.

“It’s all hand-written, and as you can imagine in 2020, that’s an interesting topic of conversation,” Powers said. “It involves hours of volunteer time. It would be a huge transition for the shop but probably at some point, a needed one.”

Staff doesn’t use a computer in the store, but the organization does have a Facebook page that highlights sales as well as new, interesting items. Powers said that this small change has helped to bring in more traffic and made communication during the pandemic much easier.

The shop has a Board of Directors, but most of the day-to-day work falls to their volunteer base of about 40 to 50 women. Volunteers price items, deal with donations, run the register and record transactions. A few times a year, all the consignor sales will be tallied up so checks can be sent out.

Ditmar said she hasn’t worked in the shop since COVID started, at the request of her children, but has worked from home on some of the record-keeping. She said that the shop is a special place to work and that she loves the customers and the people she works with.

“I’ve gotten to know people that have come in when their kids were small in a stroller and now they’re in high school,” Ditmar said. “It’s fascinating to see families grow. And people come in that I haven’t seen in a long time. I get to catch up with what’s going on in their lives.”

Visit the store Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.