Thanks to community members like you, our thrift store is thriving. But our dream from the beginning was always to be more than a store.

Thanks to community members like you, our thrift store is thriving. But our dream from the beginning was always to be more than a store.

Thanks to community members like you, our thrift store is thriving. But our dream from the beginning was always to be more than a store.

A light-filled corner table sits ready to host visitors. Shoppers check out new clothing in the boutique section. Executive director Bonnie DeMotte leans down to fix a piece of a clothing rack that has slipped out of place.

What began as a final wish to help her community has become a reality that has rallied many in neighborhoods along the Allegheny River and into the North Hills.

"A thrift store with so much more." That's how organizers describe Second Harvest, a discount shop set to open in Sharpsburg next year at the former Colortech lab at 8th and Clay streets.

Bonnie DeMotte stepped over a pile of tangled metal on Saturday afternoon inside a former photography business in Sharpsburg and looked at what was left of a restroom.