My name is Gary Grimes, and I am the founder and owner of Crossroads Thrift Store. I grew up in Molino, worked at Molino Supermarket at “the crossroads” in the late 70’s and went in the U.S. Air Force soon after graduating Tate High School. I have spent most of my life in the construction trades. I moved to the Bradenton/Sarasota area where I married my wife Jessica, also a Molino native. She has been my best friend and wife for almost 20 years.

We moved back to Molino in 2010 and in June 2018 I became founder and director of Crossroads Thrift Store and put the store in our churches’ name. I resigned as store director in December 2021 after the church’s’ leadership decided that they would change the business model drastically. The store was then called AFAAH Thrift Store. I was recently informed that their lease would be ending September 30, 2022 and was given the opportunity to lease the space. I knew there would be risks organizing the store as an LLC in lieu of a non-profit but I believe there are enough people in this community that know my wife and I well enough to know where our hearts are. I also have gotten to know many customers during my service as director of Crossroads Thrift Store that I believe can attest to my heart. Needless to say, I am not a fan of “too many cooks in the kitchen” from my previous experience and this alone drove my decision to organize as a “for profit LLC” instead of an organization that requires other people to be involved.

A special thanks to all the people that have tried to volunteer at our new store but since we are organized as an LLC, we cannot accept volunteer help and all of our employees are on the payroll. We are extremely happy to be bring back most of the people that were with me at Crossroads Thrift Store until I resigned. Ashley, Terra, Debra, and Leslie are all coming back. Nate and Darrell are dear to us, but they have decided to move on to greener pastures and we wish them the best. Our vision for the store is first and foremost to have the lowest possible price on all items and to meet the charitable needs of the community while providing a sustainable, safe, relaxing, and fun environment for our customers and employees.

We do ask for donated items to be able to keep prices down. I dare say that if we had to purchase these same items at wholesale that the price would be at least double what we will sell them for. Also, most people don’t realize that it is quite expensive to operate a store this size. Between electricity, water, garbage dumpster, lease, miscellaneous expenses, and payroll we have to markup everything, including donated items, in order to pay these bills and keep the store comfortable.

We do not charge anything for medical equipment (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, bed rails, etc.). Our only request is that, if the day comes you no longer need these items, you return them so that another person can benefit.

If you could use a little help with groceries, please stop by our Community Food Pantry. On the same note, if you are blessed with extra food items, we welcome you to share through this pantry. All items are free to those who need them.

We look forward to meeting each and every one of you and we hope to make many more friends in the coming years. We think you will find that you will fall a little more in love with Crossroads Thrift Store every time you come in.