Thrift store ordered closed for code violation

Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, February 14, 2023

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A drive up Douglas Avenue over the past couple of months may have been a little less pleasant, thanks to growing issues at the former Community Outreach Thrift Store.
According to information released by the Brewton Police Department, the thrift store was closed last week after a violation of the city’s fire code came to light.
In a Feb. 10 post, Brewton Police stated: “PLEASE BE AWARE that the Outreach Thrift Store on Douglas Avenue is closed due to fire code violations. No donations can be dropped off as of now.”
Also last week, several posts were made on social media by individuals included photos of strewn items inside the store with very little walking space left in the facility.
It has not been unusual to see large amounts of donated items gather around the donation bins set up on both sides of the building. Those donations were regularly removed by workers at the thrift store. Those items were taken into the thrift store for sorting and distribution. Over a period of time, the donations outgrew the sales in the store causing a sorting and storage issue.
Donation boxes have been removed from the building.