The Assistance League of Glendale, CA is very active in the community and provides a wide variety of charitable services. Their expanding operation moved into a historic property with a garage in the rear.

The dark and unconditioned garage space was reimagined to provide a bright and airy location for their thriving thrift store business.

The garage had a continuous sloping floor that wouldn’t meet accessibility code. To mitigate the issue, the floor was split into two levels: the lower furniture area in front and the upper clothing area in back. A custom shelving unit along the edge provided open display to both areas.

The lack of light was resolved by replacing the solid garage doors in front with new storefront glass, adding 2 new skylights in the roof, drywalling and painting the ceiling white, and uncovering and restoring the existing steel windows. With new lighting, MEP and finishes, the store opened to fanfare and doubled their sale volume.

Cost: $300,000. Completed: 2004