ORR— Since the closing of the Orr General Store several years ago, the community here has had few local options to shop for household items, clothing, or toys. But that’s changed since the opening of the new secondhand shop at the ORR Center, located in the former Orr School.

The store officially opened in January and has been seeing increasing traffic during the days the center is open. “Business has picked up,” said ORR Center director Wendy Purdy. “People are figuring out we’re here.”

For the community, the new store offers a convenient way to shop for a wide range of things, from dishes, and pots and pans, to gardening supplies, books, DVDs, CDs and even old video tapes for folks still living in the 1970s. You’ll find lots of children’s clothing, shoes, purses, glassware, and more.

“It’s all donated,” said Purdy, noting that “everything has to be gently used.”

Purdy said she doesn’t have the workforce available to weed out the junk, so they don’t accept donations unless it’s quality stuff. “We’re a little picky, but that means everything is nice. It’s a little higher quality. And we’ve had tons of donations.” That includes a big shipment of lightly-used children’s clothing donated by a shop in the Twin Cities that was going out of business. “So we have a really nice selection of kids’ clothing,” said Purdy.

For the ORR Center, the store provides a source of revenue for their current operations and the further development of their ambitious goals. Purdy and her crew of dedicated volunteers were able to get the store up and running for little or no cost, since the work was done by volunteers and the center staff made use of old shelving from the former school to display their merchandise.

The store is located in the approximately 3,000 square feet of the old school that is currently heated. The center’s board had hoped to have the entire school heated by now, using a wood-fired boiler system, but the school district hadn’t completely winterized the building when they closed it in 2010, which burst many of the copper pipes that used to distribute hot water to the school’s radiators. “That’s been a bit of a struggle,” said Purdy. But the center is making progress on repairs and she hopes to have the wood heating system operational by next winter.

With the store up and running, Purdy is already planning improvements and additions, including accepting consignment items from local artists and crafters. Eventually, she’d like to have a gallery specifically featuring local artists. Area artists or crafters interested in displaying their work can contact Purdy at 780-5300.

For now, the store is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., although Purdy is hoping to add Fridays during the summer if she can find volunteers to man the additional hours.