With the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon, Fancy Finds commemorated its long-anticipated grand opening event on Friday, October 14 with staff members, city leaders and eager customers in attendance. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was the culmination of months of preparations to ready Baptist Children’s Homes’ (BCH) upscale resale shop for its official debut.
“For a long time, I’ve wanted to have something like Fancy Finds,” BCH president/CEO Michael C. Blackwell said to the crowd at the ceremony. “I didn’t know exactly what it would turn out to be, but if you have a dream, don’t give up on it and things will come together.”
The journey to find the perfect location for the new resale store originally focused on the Cabarrus County area where there is high demand for restored furniture and home decor items similar to what Fancy Finds offers.
In the end, it became apparent that establishing the storefront at Mills Home in Thomasville, the birthplace of BCH, was the ideal choice.
The store is located in the building that formerly housed the campus print shop and currently serves as the headquarters for the North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry (NCBAM), BCH’s Information Technology, and Mills Home’s maintenance department.
Notably, Fancy Finds is not the first store to occupy the building. The location once served as the “Figleaf,” a clothing shop where Mills Home residents could pick out apparel when they first arrived. Some residents also worked at the Figleaf.
“It’s fitting that Fancy Finds would find its home in this particular place,” Blackwell said. “The building has a rich history that is still being charted.”
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Thomasville mayor Raleigh York recalled his own childhood history with Mills Home’s boys and girls.
“I remember as a boy playing baseball at Mills Home and attending school with the children,” York shared. “This is a great place that has served a lot of children, and it’s my honor to be a part of the opening of this new place.”
“I’d like to thank everyone who has helped make this become a reality,” Fancy Finds director Renee Gregory said to the crowd. “Fancy Finds truly came together because of the support shown by the community and everyone at Baptist Children’s Homes.”
Gregory and volunteers worked tirelessly in the days leading up to the grand opening to ensure there was plenty of creative items available for purchase. By the end of Friday, most of the new stock had been bought.
“It was a good problem to have. The response to the grand opening weekend was more than we could’ve hoped for,” Gregory said.
Fancy Finds is open every third Friday and Saturday of each month (except December where the store opens the second weekend) with all proceeds benefiting BCH’s statewide ministries. In between retail weekends, Gregory devotes her time picking up newly-donated furniture and home decor items from donors and creatively repurposing them.
“It not only takes quite a bit of time to collect new items, but we also have to go through the creative process of restoring and repainting many of them,” Gregory explained.
With the grand opening behind her, Gregory is focused on identifying additional volunteers to help with responsibilities both before and during the days the store is open.
“As a nonprofit, we depend on volunteers,” she said. “More volunteers means we are able to do more for the children, families and aging adults BCH serves. There are lots of different areas at Fancy Finds where people can help.”
If you are interested in volunteering, contact Renee Gregory at 704-909-8223 or rgregory@bchfamily.org.
Fancy Finds Holiday Retail Events takes place Dec. 9 and 10 located at Baptist Children's Homes' (BCH) Mills Home campus in Thomasville. For more information, visit www.FancyFinds.org