When storms pounded the region on August 2 and August 4, The King’s Corner Gift and Thrift store in Reading took a direct hit.
Extensive flooding in the lower garage area of the shop resulted in massive damage to inventory. According to Business Manager Sonny Greene, “About 80% of our items were damaged or destroyed…we were working in two feet of water to salvage what we could.”
King’s Corner was created by Rick and Ruth Culp to serve The King’s Academy, a Christian school in Mohrsville, and local churches by providing additional funds.
The shop receives all types of different items from local donors, and apart from paying for rent and utilities, all proceeds go towards the school and the churches that King’s Corner supports.
Greene, who has a separate full-time job, noted that the employees of the shop are volunteers. She shared that she walked into King’s Corner one day, fell in love with it, and was delighted when Mr. and Ms. Culp gave it to her to run.
A tranquil space, King’s Corner features a tea room with free coffee, tea, and Wifi for patrons to enjoy. When not relaxing, customers are invited to browse two full stories of home decor, seasonal items and decorations furniture, baby items, jewelry, books, and one-of-a-kind pieces.
The shop has stayed afloat financially during the pandemic by switching primarily to online sales, but losing a large amount of inventory has been highly concerning.
When asked how the community can assist King’s Corner rally from the destruction, Ms. Greene replied, “Community volunteers [would be helpful] to help clean salvageable items as soon as possible…even if they can just give an hour of their time.” She mentioned that monetary donations are always welcome as well, which can be mailed directly to the store or dropped off.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for donations: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-king039s-corner-flood-help
In spite of such challenging circumstances, Greene remains optimistic, and excited to see how the Reading community can give back to a place that has given them so much love and support over the years. Even in the face of such a challenging situation, she cheerfully said, “God has been good to us.”
King’s Corner Thrift is located at 5704 Allentown Pike, Reading, PA 19605.
