A decade of good deals

Val Robichaud | Sonoma Sun — Ten years ago, Anna Bimenyimana founded the Bon Marche thrift store (‘good deal’ in French) with the idea of helping women in poverty in Rwanda, her homeland.

Since then she’s raised over $300,000 for the cause, helped health centers and Sonoma Valley homeless, and fostered a base of customers that have become like family.

It’s been a good deal all the way around.

“I feel like it was yesterday,” she says, recalling the first days of the business in a much smaller space in an Eighth Street East warehouse. She had been in international resale, but this was a chance to focus on a cause as a nonprofit.

“It just kept growing,” she recalls of the move to Riverside drive. The shop was well established there when, about three years again, the building was nearly destroyed by fire. Luckily, there was space available just down the street, at 19405 Riverside Drive.

Clothes, shoes, a motorcycle helmet, books, a Scooby-Doo lunch box… she has a sense of what regulars are looking for. “I know what they like, and keep an eye out for what they need,” she says. “When I hear ‘thanks,’ it makes my day. It’s very gratifying.”

Customers come to shop, look for deals, spend $4.61 or $10.81, and chat a bit. They note a new hair do and ask about the family, in what she calls “small town relationships. They come to visit me.”

The inventory includes chotskies galore, and “the best, most amazing stuff.” Also, what you might need “to win an ugly sweater contest.”

In a program with Sonoma Overnight Support, she provides vouchers that homeless people can use to purchase needed clothes. La Luz Center sends clients as well. The clothes might make the difference in a job interview.

In between customers, there’s plenty to do. The merchandise is all donated (thank you), but must be sorted, cleaned, priced, racked and stocked. It’s a constant flow, and even after 10 years, you never quite catch up.

There’s also a second location, at 539 First Street East near Sonoma Plaza.

“I’m still swimming,” Bimenyimana says, “but I love my job.”