Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, grocery stores have emerged as an oasis of much-needed goods. But many local shoppers also depend on thrift stores for everything from clothes to cookware, and the path through the pandemic has been uncertain at many of these shops.

In addition to government regulations on business operations and social distancing, thrift stores face an extra set of hurdles due to the nature of their gently used merchandise. It appears each thrift store in the valley is taking its own approach to operations during the health emergency.

“This is uncharted territory for us at this point,” reported Alana Darling, chairperson of the Soroptimist Thrift Haus in Whitefish.

Darling explained the Thrift Haus, an all-volunteer shop operated by members of Soroptimist International of Whitefish, is challenged on several fronts, from ensuring donations are safe to handle, to finding the volunteers to sort through the donations, to getting products to the people who need them.

The Thrift Haus started once again accepting donations last week after being closed during Gov. Steve Bullock’s stay-at-home order. “We’re being extremely cautious regarding everything that comes in,” Darling said, even though she noted the Centers for Disease Control reports clothes are not a particularly high-risk item for spreading the novel coronavirus.

Volunteers are currently waiting three days before anyone touches clothing donations, and donations that come in cardboard or plastic boxes are being isolated for even longer before being wiped down with disinfectant and then sorted.

Even with these measures, many of the Thrift Haus’ volunteers—mostly older women—are avoiding coming into the store to reduce their risk of catching the virus. With a sudden deluge of donations from people who have been cooped up at home, cleaning out their closets, Darling said the Thrift Haus is being overwhelmed by donation.

The store isn’t open right now for shoppers, but anyone in a dire situation is encouraged to contact Darling to make arrangements to get what they need. Those in need can contact the organization through the website, soroptimistwhitefish.org.

She said the store expects to reopen to shoppers during Phase 2 of the reopening plan, which they hope will take place in early June. At that time, they will allow 10 shoppers in the store at a time, but Darling is concerned about children coming in and potentially jeopardizing social distancing practices at the shop.

MITCH MCKINLEY, retail operations director for Flathead Industries, agrees the effect of COVID-19 on thrift stores has been “absolutely crazy.”

He said droves of donations have been pouring in to Flathead Industries’ various thrift stores. The smaller Columbia Falls and Whitefish stores opened back up two weeks ago, whereas the Kalispell stores and donation drop-offs reopened May 4.

McKinley said he was impressed, surprised and a little overwhelmed by the response. Before reopening, he remembered being worried whether the stores would even receive any donations, given the situation. He said Flathead Industries is appreciative of all of the donors “hanging onto donations for us instead of trashing them.”

And the response from shoppers has been just as enthusiastic, according to McKinley. He said he initially wondered, “What is the shopping going to look like? Are people going to be scared coming out of this?” But so far, he said shoppers have been eager but respectful about getting back into their stores.

Flathead Industries has implemented all manner of safety guidelines in its stores, including social distancing markers, gloves and masks for employees, plexiglass shields at checkout and hand sanitizer stations. McKinley said Flathead Industries is currently leaving all donations outside for at least an hour before processing them. They are also operating at half of their buildings’ maximum occupancies, per the governor’s directive.

Flathead Industries faces a slightly different situation when it comes to limiting the capacity in each of their locations. The main Kalispell store has a total occupancy of 340 people, so McKinley noted they have no trouble keeping shoppers to half of that number. But the Kalispell clearance store has a much smaller footprint, and he said they have had times when the store has reached its half-capacity limit there. In Whitefish and Columbia Falls, they can have about 17 people in the stores at a time, and McKinley explained cashiers there have a pretty easy time keeping track of how many people come in and out.

Some thrift stores in the valley still remain completely closed to donations and shopping, such as the Salvation Army in Kalispell. The store manager could not be reached for comment.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.