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News-Sun photo by KATARA SIMMONS Boys and Girls Club Emporium Manager Levon Stukes and Avon Park High School student Devante Felix move a dresser that was purchased from the Emporium on Thursday in downtown Sebring. Felix is part of the Boys and Girls Club Junior Achievement program and spends a portion of his school day working at the thrift store. For more information or to make a donation, call Stukes at 873-6160.

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published: Friday, December 14, 2012

Boys and Girls Club Emporium begins expansion

By SAMANTHA GHOLAR

sgholar@newssun.com

SEBRING - The Highlands County Boys and Girls Club Emporium has quickly become a success after only a few short months in the business.

The Emporium, which opened up in late summer, is a discount, pre-owned store where customers can purchase a number of donated items. The Emporium was created as a way for the Boys and Girls Club to become self-sustaining and supplement the organization's income.

Executive Director Woodraun Wright is excited about the addition to the Emporium.

"We are expanding," Wright said. "We are combining spaces with the store next door; we will be tearing down the wall between us sometime next week."

The contract for the new space was signed Wednesday and the Emporium will soon get a little bigger. The Emporium has already maxed out the space in its store. With the addition of the second store and space, the Emporium will be able to better serve the community and its customers.

"We grew out of this space very quickly. The response from the community has been great. We have a quick turn around rate; we get things in here and their gone quick," Wright said.

The new layout for the Emporium will feature a much larger space with all of the appliances and furniture being housed in the new space. The smaller items will stay in the old space.

"The big stuff - like refrigerators, sofas, bulkier items - they're going to be over in the new place. In here, we will have all the small items - the clothes, plates, decor, things like that," Wright said.

In the meantime, the Highlands County Boys and Girls Club Emporium will continue to spread the word about the well-received store. Wright has been happy with the outpouring of donations the store has gotten since it opened its doors. The mixture of winter residents and full-time residents searching for items to fill their homes with has been a the driving force behind the store.

"Right now we are trying to get the word out more. A lot of the northerners don't realize that we are here yet. So once we get the new space all set up we will be continuing to work on spreading the word," Wright said.

The Emporium accepts a number of quality donations that will be sold at discounted prices to the public. The Emporium is on the downtown Sebring Circle. For more information, contact the Emporium at 658-1042.