Embattled thrift shop in Export reopens
The Murrysville Christian Concern, better known as the Friends Thrift Shop, has officially re-opened.
“We got a letter from the state yesterday,” said MCC Board President Rocky Kindelberger.
The store on Kennedy Avenue has been closed since early February, after receiving a Feb. 6 cease-and-desist letter from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The store, which operates as a charity, was not properly registered with the state department. Kindelberger said store officials submitted registration paperwork Jan. 19, but it had not yet been acknowledged when the store’s state department file was reviewed in February.
Wanda Murren, director of the communications and press office for the state department, said the bureau deals with registration issues on a regular basis.
“Most of the cease-and-desist orders sent out are related to registration,” Murren said last month. “And the department doesn’t immediately order a cease-and-desist. Our staff works pretty closely with charities to try and bring them into compliance, because in most cases these are groups that are trying to do some good for the community.”
Proceeds from store sales go toward helping needy individuals and families in the area. People in need of assistance can call the store’s social service coordinator Jack Battenhouse at 412-373-8845.
According to the Friends Thrift Shop’s Facebook page, the store re-opened at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Kindelberger said he is just happy to close the book on this particular chapter.
“It is a relief,” he said.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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