Our History
What began as a small experiment has grown into a major community success story. In 2009, Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) opened Adoption Center West on Grand Canyon Drive to increase housing for cats available for adoption. By the fall of 2018, adoptions had improved and the extra housing was no longer needed. But what to do with that space?
Many non-profit groups were seeing great success using thrift stores to raise money to support their programs. DCHS already regularly received more donated pet supplies than the shelter could use and were reselling them to the public through the Barkins program. So, DCHS decided to do a trial run.
On January 19, 2019, DCHS Thrift Store opened to its doors. When the lease expired on the Grand Canyon Drive location in May 2020, the West Side store moved to its current, larger location at 6904 Watts Road in Madison.
The experiment worked! By January 2024, Thrift Store West celebrated five successful years. Through much of that time, community members had been asking, “When will DCHS open a thrift store on the East Side?”
In July 2024, Thrift Store East opened at 5231 High Crossing Blvd., offering a shopping experience double the size of Thrift Store West. With more than 20,000 unique items on the sales floor at any given time, shoppers now have even more ways to support animals at Dane County Humane Society—simply by finding their next great treasure at bargain prices.