Thanks to a new partnership, Hendersonville thrift shop remains open

HENDERSONVILLE - Just a few weeks before Amazing Grace Ministries Vintage and Thrift Shoppe was about to celebrate its eight-year anniversary, the store's owners were on the verge of making a heartbreaking announcement to their customers.

With sales at an all-time low, Amazing Grace owners Darrell and Cora Tharp knew they had no other choice. They were sure they had to close the store, located at 814 Kanuga Rd., for good and set a date for the final day.

"We were in the process of closing the store due to our high rent and low sales within the store. The store is how we fund our programs to assist families in need. July 31 was going to be our last day," Darrell Tharp told the Times-News on June 26.

The Tharps even made a Facebook post at the end of May, announcing the store's closing date and thanking their customers for supporting them through the years. Then, fate stepped in.

David Bryson and Kelly Weavil were vendors of the store, with David being a vendor for the past six years and Kelly for the past three.

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"When we decided to close, David and Kelly started looking for a storefront to start a new business," Darrell Tharp said. "They were talking about what they were going to do and searched the area for a location. One morning I thought, 'What if they joined Cora and me?' We already had a huge following with the store and ministry, so it made sense."

David and Kelly agreed, and with the new partnership, the store was saved, Darrell Tharp said.

"We just celebrated our eighth year in business on June 17. We started our ministry back in 2015," he said.

With the thrift shop remaining open, Darrell and Cora Tharp's plans, as well as Bryson's and Weavil's, are the same, Darrell Tharp said, and that is "to help families with food, clothing and anything else we can assist with here in our community."

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"In the past eight years, we have done backpacks, Easter baskets for kids and those in assisted living, full meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas and toys for the kids at Christmas. We took disaster relief supplies to Wilmington when the hurricane hit, Beauregard, Alabama, when a tornado hit, Gatlinburg during the fires, Flat Rock during the mudslides, and other disasters we have partnered with Samaritan’s Purse. Our desire is to continue to help families in need here in our community," Darrell Tharp said.

He said it's through customers' financial support and shopping in the store that "helps us help them."

True to the thrift shop's name (Amazing Grace), the Tharps are very religious. Darrell Tharp said the idea for the store began when Cora was broken down at one point in her life and prayed, asking the Lord to provide an answer.

"His response to her prayer was to 'Feed my sheep' and this passage, Matthew 25:35-36: 'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.' The heart of Amazing Grace Ministries is founded on this scripture,” he said.

Moving forward, Amazing Grace Ministries is reaching out to the community for help in the following areas: Volunteers, furniture, funds for adding to its food pantry on site, funds for daily operations cost, funds for the purchase of the building and funds for advertising.

"We are still in need of monthly financial assistance to be able to keep helping as many families as we can plus keep the store open," Darrell Tharp said.

Amazing Grace is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. For more information about the store, go to https://foramazinggrace.com/ or call the store at 828-329-1817.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: On brink of closing, a thrift shop is saved, thanks to new partnership