Bargain Barn will remain open after all, hurray

SHARON — The much-loved Bargain Barn resale shop in Sharon has been saved and will remain open.

The news earlier this month that the shop would close elicited widespread concern. The shop is known for well-made clothing sold at very reasonable prices. It attracts not only fashion mavens but also people who are on fixed incomes and want durable attractive clothes that they can afford.

There was good news on Thursday, Nov. 12, when the owners of WHDD Robin Hood Radio in Sharon announced they  plan to take over the shop. 

Marshall Miles and Jill Goodman said  they have signed a letter of intent for their company, Tri-State Public Communications, to take over “management and operations” of the Bargain Barn.

They described their company, which owns WHDD (the smallest NPR station in America) as “a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, non-stock corporation that manages and operates five broadcast stations in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts.”

“Over the past few months, the HCA Board has been engaged in an extensive search to find a way to keep the Bargain Barn open and operating for the many loyal community customers whofrequent the shop,” they said in a news release.

“As the HCA draws closer to the date set for the dissolution of their 501(c)(3) nonprofit status on Jan. 1, 2015, it gives both non-profit organizations great pleasure to know that the Bargain Barn will continue to operate without any interruption of service to the Tri-State Region, and continue to support a local Sharon nonprofit that serves the entire region.”

The Bargain Barn was a fundraising operation of the Health Care Auxiliary, which was founded in 1912 as the Sharon Hospital Auxiliary.

It became the Health Care Auxiliary (HCA) when the hospital converted to a for-profit entity in 2002. The organization was run entirely by volunteers, as are so many agencies in the area. After 13 years, though, the longtime president, Harriet Weiss, has retired. In two years of searching, a replacement was not found to take on the job and so the auxiliary will dissolve on the last day of this year.

The HCA has run the Gazebo Gift Shop at Sharon Hospital (which will continue under the management of Sharon Hospital); organized the annual Cancer Survivor Celebration (which will continue through the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association); and administrated health professional scholarships (which will continue through a fund at the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut in Torrington). 

The auxiliary also gave grants to a range of area health-care programs, such as hospice agencies, area counseling services, the Jane Lloyd Fund, Relay for Life, WeCanRow teams and individual emergency healthcare expenses incurred by area residents.