WPCNR WEST SIDE STORY. By John F. Bailey. August 25, 2005, UPDATED 12:15 P.M. E.D.T., August 26, 2005: WPCNR went to drop off some donations to the Salvation Army Thrift Store on 84 East Post Road last week, only to discover that the store had closed. Donations instead would be accepted at the Salvation Army store in Mount Vernon. The Salavation Army headquarters in White Plains is not accepting donations, but told us today people come every day to give donations and ask why the Thrift Store closed.

Major Richard Kuhl, Administrator of the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon, who is responsible for running the other S.A. Thrift Stores in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Port Chester and Yonkers, told WPCNR the location at 84 East Post Road, was running too much of a loss at this White Plains location to keep the store there. The Department of Public Safety, asked about incidents of shoplifting there yesterday, another condition Kuhl said lead to its closing,   reports 15 thefts were reported to police by The Thrift Shop in the last 22 years.  Photo by WPCNR News.

Kuhl said the store was operating at a 60% loss at the time of closure, and was facing an increase in rent. Kuhl said the store had been at the location for 4 to 6 years, and when they had begun there they were paying $4,000 a month rent, and had been breaking even, but the rents had since risen to $6,800 a month this past year. Kuhl reports the landlord had indicated the rent was going to be raised higher for the current year.

Another condition that figured into the decision was the White Plains store size. Kuhl said the Salvation Army was looking at another location in White Plains presently with larger square footage, and hoped to reopen there by the first of the year.

“It was not doing as well as we expected. We cannot afford to lose money on our stores, we have to turn a profit,” Kuhl told WPCNR. “We could not continue to bite the bullet.”

Kuhl added as an aside that the store, (which had no electronic security devices), had also experienced a chronic shoplifting problem.

Inspector Daniel Jackson of the White Plains Department of Public Safety, asked about thefts reported at the Thrift Store reported to WPCNR, "My records system shows 22 theft related incidents over the last 15 years at the Thrift Shop. That is what was reported to us. If they were
having a major problem with theft, not all of it was reported to us."