Republic of Thrift celebrates five years of supporting schools

By Marie Curtin | Special to The Sun

What happens when you take two hardworking “farmers daughters,” put them in Sonoma and add school-age kids into the mix? What happens is a homegrown nonprofit thrift store — Republic of Thrift – that has donated over $150,000 to Sonoma Valley public schools since opening in 2012.

Driving the enterprise are Michelle Mammini and Jeannette Tomany, two moms wanting to make a difference in their kids’ education.

The sisters were raised in San Martin, California in a simple house with very little money. They worked on their dad’s farm from age 11, sorting tomatoes, zucchini and peppers to earn money for school clothes. It was this background that really gave the sisters their moxie and a strong work ethic. At the same time, their grandmother was very involved in their community and in volunteerism. She won awards and recognition in the community and continues to have a scholarship awarded in her name. This was their role model for the future.

Eventually both sisters worked at Nordstrom, which gave them the customer service focus required. Jeannette went on to work in the travel industry; Michelle served in administrative and office management roles. The breadth of experience would serve them well in their own business.

Republic of Thrift came about when the sisters were discussing the state of funding for schools in Sonoma Valley, where Jeannette now lived, in 2011. The idea was quickly born. They quietly began developing a business plan and carefully moving forward to find a storefront.

Jeannette immediately began going to garage sales, telling her story, picking up “leftovers” to fill two storage units. Prestwood Elementary added clothing collections to its annual coat drive and collected over 800 pounds of clothes. These donations really helped launch the store. A retail space, an old furniture store, was found at 17496 Highway 12 in the Springs.

Michelle uprooted her family from Lodi and relocated to Glen Ellen. She moved on the weekend and on Monday they began working a 70+ hour work week. Both sisters worked tirelessly, along with a few dedicated employees.

With Jeannette not taking a salary for the first year, they immediately began donating funds to the eleven SV public schools. Although they were always operating as a nonprofit, they became an official 501(c)3 in 2013.

In spite of their work experience, these two sisters had no experience in thrift store operations. Processing and pricing donations was slow; there was a lot of “let’s set this aside and decide later.” But as time went on, processes fell into place. Pricing became easier and quicker. The donation process was fine-tuned.

Both Michelle and Jeannette say that at the five-year mark they are finally hitting their groove. Donations are accepted four days a week, allowing focused pricing on the other three days. Merchandise is priced low to move quickly. A monthly sale keeps things fresh and new. And the frequently-changing window display with mannequin Thriftina is fun and quirky, drawing customers into the store.

“We can’t thank the community enough for their support,” says Jeannette. “Truly, we would not be here to celebrate our five-year anniversary in February without the incredible donors and shoppers.” Michelle adds, “We are honored to be working hard every day to help provide additional funding to our schools.”

On Friday, February 3, the store will have Customer Appreciation Evening with late night shopping from 5 to 7p.m. with a 25 percent storewide discount and light snacks. On Saturday and Sunday, February 4 (10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) and 5 (noon to 5 p.m.),

the store’s annual Anniversary Sale will add extra merchandise and offer 50 percent storewide discount.