FARMINGTON — Just minutes after the new Farmington Thrift Store for the Lions Club on Broadway opened its doors Friday, a large stand displayed in the window was sold and on its way out the door.

Store manager Patty Bessie opened the doors at 10 a.m. for a grand opening under new ownership. A small crowd had gathered outside waiting and looking at new items in the window.

The store had been owned by Skills Inc. and closed earlier this summer with 20-plus years on Broadway. The Farmington Lions Club decided to reopen it in the same location, as a long-term fundraising endeavor, said Craig Jordan, member and project chairperson.

Bessie and the new assistant manager, Sherry Callahan, are returning to their positions much to the delight of those waiting for the store to open. One of those waiting was Patti Knapp who has brought several consumers to the previous store through her work at LEAP and Care and Comfort, she said.

“It’s wonderful to have the store open again,” she said. She was also happy the Lions Club could benefit from the items sold, remembering how her father’s Lions Club from the coastal area used to sell corn-cob brooms, she said. They do some good work, including collecting glasses, she added.

The local Lions Club raises funds to provide eye care and purchase glasses for adults who can not afford them and young children who need them for school, among their other charitable efforts, Jordan said previously.

Every penny, above costs, earned in the new thrift store will go back to charities in the Farmington area, he said.

The club, like the previous owners, will rely on donations of items to stock the two rooms. Arrangements can be made to pick up items or they may be left when the store is open, Bessie said.

The new store will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. , Monday through Saturday.

Neighboring downtown businesses honored the store’s first day providing refreshments for shoppers. The Homestead Bakery sent in a box of pastries and the downtown Dunkin’ Donuts furnished coffee for the occasion, she said.

Anyone with donations they would like picked up may call 778-6690 or 778-0413.

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