(Updated 4:03 p.m.) A month after Salvation Army announced the closure of its George Street rehab facility, it has closed its thrift store nearby on Crown Street, without notice.
The Salvation Army store, at 274 Crown St., was closed and cleared out recently. A Tuesday visit found the 9,360-square-foot space entirely vacated.
The store’s closure comes just weeks after the evangelical Christian charitable organization announced it was shutting down its adult rehab center at 301 George St. Salvation Army spokespeople said at the time that the organization had no plans to close the store.
Salvation Army spokesman Tim Raines said Tuesday that the organization decided to close the store to make it easier to sell 274 Crown St. and 301 George St. together. “It became obvious that it was best to sell that property as one continuous unit.”
Raines said the Crown and George street properties are now on the market. He said Salvation Army is “aggressively” looking for another location to open a thrift store in New Haven.
“We understand that there are people who in some ways depend on being able to purchase lower-cost clothing” at Salvation Army stores, Raines said.
The Crown street thrift store had become an anomaly on a block that continues to see gentrification, including the $50-million luxury apartment building going up at the corner of College and Crown. A developer recently won approval to convert a dilapidated parking garage next to the thrift store, at the corner of Crown and High, into 24 modern market-rate apartments.
Oh c'mon, why the no notice. I would've went and bought a bunch of things if I knew they were closing.
Also, I'll take on the role of 3/5 for a moment. Behold the gentrification vampire. Congrats to the poor people around urban core, if you want cheap clothes you're now having to head up to the Salvation Army/Goodwill in Hamden or the Wal-Mart on Foxon. Let's see how long those last few non upscale stores on Chapel st a few blocks away hold out for.