Columbus, Ohio USA
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Out of the Closet
Five years and it's still not your common thrift store

by Karen Edwards
November/December 2018 Issue

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PHOTOS BY GUS BRUNSMAN III

Out of the Closet, 1230 N. High St. Call 614-291-2680 for more information.

Five years ago, the Shell gas station at the corner of Fifth and High Street was leveled to the ground. Out of its remnants arose a building housing a concept that had never been seen before in the Short North, in Columbus, or the state of Ohio for that matter.

This is the Out of the Closet thrift store, now celebrating its fifth year at 1230 N. High Street. Walk in and you’ll soon learn this place houses more than used clothing, home goods and furniture. Over one doorway, you see a blue neon sign proclaiming “Free HIV Testing.” Over there, in a corner, you see another sign, “AHF Pharmacy.”

Yeah, this isn’t your ordinary thrift store.

This one happens to be run by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a global organization that, since 1987, has been caring and advocating for thousands of people living with HIV and AIDS around the world. Because of AHF efforts and its health care centers, the delivery of care to AIDS patients has grown significantly over the past 30 years. Not only are more people being served by the agency, but as needs grow, AHF has evolved to meet them. For example, today’s AIDS patients live longer than they used to, so there is a new demand for low-cost housing. AHF has responded to the need by creating living facilities where HIV-infected people can live without financial strain.

The network of Out of the Closet thrift stores helps pay for many of AHF’s activities. Out of every dollar spent at a store, 96 cents of it goes toward funding AIDS programs and services, regardless of a person’s ability to pay. In a sense, the Thrift Store is also an entry point for those who think they may have been infected with HIV. But don’t misunderstand. This is a thrift store, where you can buy quality goods at low prices – and who doesn’t like a bargain.

“We get people in here who will ask, ‘Is it OK if I shop here? I don’t have AIDS,’” says Out of the Closet’s manager Brent Burington. “I tell them of course it’s OK to shop here. That’s the point – to raise money to help those with AIDS.”

In order to better understand the shop and its mission, let’s break Out of the Closet down to its three main functions, and take a closer look at each.

The Thrift Shop

Out of the Closet’s manager, Brent Burington –
a professional actor who started out as a driver for the store when it first opened – is a good business man. As manager, he turned the balance sheets around, and the store is now making a profit after facing significant losses.

“What we offer here is not typical thrift store stuff,” says Burington.

Five years ago, that might not have been as true. Burington started at the store in 2013 as a driver, picking up donated items, delivering medication, running errands. A professional actor, he left the job nine months later to teach theater in New Hampshire. Fortunately for Out of the Closet, the job was temporary.

“The driver they had hired to replace me didn’t work out, so I was called and asked if I would come back to work there,” says Burington. He did, and within a year, the store manager left, and Burington was urged to apply for the job.

“When I got it, I took a look at the store’s budget,” he says. At that time, in February 2017, the store was budgeted to lose $40,000 – odd considering the store is meant to raise money to help with AIDS healthcare. Burington knew he had to turn the balance sheets around. “I have no formal retail training, but I’m an actor, and we have to make money someway. I’ve always done it working in retail,” he says.

Within his first year as Out of the Closet’s store manager, the shop went from losing $40,000 a year to making $60,000. Since then, the store has made money, doing just about as well as Burington’s first year at the store.

“We did it by choosing items carefully,” he says.

If you haven’t been thrifting lately, you should know that Out of the Closet fits into that model that’s somewhere between a skid-row thrift store and a high-end antique store. Many of today’s “antique” and consignment stores take great care to curate the items they showcase. You’re unlikely to find much junk at these places. The items are in good, used condition, clean and still stylish. Better yet, you can find them at considerably lower prices than brand new items.

Items acquired by Out of the Closet are donated. “We all take items in, but not all items are accepted,” says Burington. “I tell everyone who works here: ‘If you wouldn’t buy it for your own home, don’t accept it here.’” In other words, stained, torn or broken items are not wanted. “Everything we sell is washed and cleaned, and ready for use.”

If you’re looking to donate an item or two, please do – especially if you have a couch or dining room table and chairs you no longer need. “We sell a lot of those,” he says. Jewelry is also a big seller here, and because the shop is so close to the campus area, T-shirts are a big hit along with other clothing and shoes.

Besides the aforementioned stained and broken items, however, there are a few other things that Out of the Closet won’t be able to take. “We won’t take any mattresses or bedsprings because state laws won’t let us sell them.” The shop also won’t take car seats or crib sets because safety warranties can no longer be guaranteed. “We also don’t want old TVs because they just don’t sell,” Burington says. The exception to that would be flat screens and old console TVs that were mid-century standbys. “We get a lot of partial sets of things,” says Burington. Shoppers notice. “They’ll tell us, ‘This looks like it’s part of a set. Do you have the other one?’” It’s discouraging to tell them, “No we don’t.” On the other hand, the price that shoppers pay for partial sets is considerably less than it would be if they were looking at a full set on the floor of a department store, so if you can adjust your expectations, you can end up with a real bargain.

And there are plenty of bargains to be had here. Housewares, game boards, furniture, clothing, shoes, jewelry – look around and chances are you will find some little treasure. Everything is well organized and the sales floor is spacious enough you won’t find yourself crushed against racks or other customers. High ceilings let in lots of light.

“After the gas station was torn down, this building was designed as a two-story building,” says Burington. The sales floor was going to be on the bottom with AIDS testing and the pharmacy on the second floor. Local building gurus, however, said no to the two-story design, so, although the structure was in place, the building had to accommodate everything on one floor.

The same building gurus are also responsible for the building’s muted pink color. “Out of the Closet stores originated in California, so the colors chosen for the shop were fuchsia pink and mint green,” says Burington. Again, local authorities said no – those colors were too, well, outrageous, for the neighborhood. So, the pink was toned down and mint green became an accent. Still, the shell-pink color makes the building stand out from its more staid, gray and brown neighbors.

“We’ll have people literally across the street, call us and say they can’t find us,” says Burington. “I tell them, ‘Do you see the pink building across from you?’” They find it immediately.

Shoppers come here not only from the campus area – “I’d say 40 percent of our customer base comes from OSU or CCAD,” says Burington – but also from areas within a five- to 10-mile radius, like Clintonville and Grandview. “We also have professional thrifters, who come once a week or several times a week because they know our merchandise is always changing.”

“This is a great place to find what you don’t know you need, or to buy something you know you need without paying a huge price for it,” says Burington.

The Testing Site
In 2017, the Ohio Health Department reported that 238 new cases of the HIV virus were recorded in Franklin County. Some of those individuals may have learned of their HIV status at the Out of the Closet testing site.

Staff members Angela Eason and Jacob Shrimplin

“We test 300 to 400 people a month for HIV,” says Shae Ward, program director of the OTC testing site. Ward oversaw Equitas Health’s AIDS hotline before coming to Out of the Closet. “My training is in international relations,” she says, “but I wanted to work in an area where what I do has an impact on the community.”

Many of those who come for testing are OSU students, says Ward. “We suggest they come in once every three months,” she says – both for STD testing and for HIV. Students, after all, are typically a sexually active bunch, but intravenous drug use is also a concern. Both are risk factors for HIV infection.

“AHF recently opened a clinic in a small town near the Indiana-Kentucky border,” says Burington. “There had been an explosion of AIDS diagnoses – 20 percent of the population had been reported HIV positive.” Most of that was due to a growing drug problem in the area, he says.

Although sexually active people are not the only ones coming in for testing, there is still a stigma associated with HIV and AIDS says Ward. That’s why the test site retains a high degree of confidentiality.

Anyone wishing to be tested for HIV can come into OTC’s testing site any time Monday through Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. If an STD test is desired, these tests are administered Monday through Thursday between 3 and 6:30 p.m. “We have a long-standing partnership with the Ohio Department of Health who comes in and provides the STD testing for us,” says Ward.

Let’s say you want to be tested for HIV, but you’re not sure how the process works. You’re apprehensive anyway, and the fact that you don’t know what to expect makes you even more uneasy. So here’s what you need to know:

• Look for the bright blue neon sign at the back of the store that designates the testing area.
• You’ll take a seat at one of the computer kiosks where you’ll proceed to
answer some questions, largely demographic, about yourself but you’ll also need to relate your sexual orientation and sexual history. Don’t worry. There is a privacy screen between kiosks so no one will see your responses.
• You will be called to the testing area by your initials. No names are used.
• The staff member will discuss your answers with you, pointing out any risk factors and what you might be able to do about them.
• There will be a finger prick to obtain blood. The prick is similar to the one that diabetics use to test their blood sugar.
• The blood will be placed into a capsule, and you will wait 60 seconds for the result.

“The tests we use are 98 percent accurate,” says Ward. “And we try to make sure no one waits any longer than 15-20 minutes for a test.” That means within 16-21 minutes, you’ll have an answer. “There aren’t usually any false positives,” says Ward, but if the test result is positive, the staff will perform a second test to be sure.

Anyone who receives a positive HIV test result isn’t just sent packing with well wishes, however. They will be asked if they have a doctor, and if not, they will be linked to the AHF Health Center to confirm the diagnosis, and to treat the infection. “We go out of our way to make sure the person is comfortable,” says Burington “We link them to doctors and to the pharmacy; we help walk them through the journey.”

What makes Out of the Closet different from other testing sites is that the entire service is free. “We serve everybody,” says Ward, “regardless of their ability to pay. We don’t even ask about insurance. It’s all taken care of.”

Those who take an STD test will wait longer for results, typically four or five days. Here again, though, knowing your status is important.

A couple of days a week, the testing site also hosts a Wellness Clinic which is open to the community and staffed by a nurse. And you may see an OTC testing site pop up in other parts of town, as well. “We do AHF testing outside of our building at various community events,” says Ward.

If you’re thinking of coming into OTC for a test, Ward can only encourage you. “The tests are fast and free, and it’s always better to know your status than not know it,” she says. The sooner you learn of any HIV infection, the sooner you can begin treatment. “These are life-changing services,” says Ward. Ultimately, she adds: “A test protects both you and your partner.”

The Pharmacy

“We have people who come in from the community
and use us as their local pharmacy,” which is great, says T.D. Pollard, pharmacy manager. “But we specialize in prescriptions related to AIDS/HIV and hepatitis C.”

T.D. Pollard, pharmacy manager for the AHF Pharmacy, says make no mistake. This pharmacy-inside-a-thrift-store is a full-service pharmacy, dispensing blood pressure medicine, medicine for high cholesterol and every other medication prescribed by a physician “But we specialize in prescriptions related to AIDS/HIV and hepatitis C,” says Pollard.

Like the thrift store, you don’t have to have AIDS in order to use the pharmacy. “We have people who come in from the community and use us as their local pharmacy,” Pollard says.

But, of course, you have to know it’s there. “People shopping at the store will notice it and ask, ‘Is that a pharmacy over there?’” says Burington. People do notice it, both while in the store shopping and also when visiting the testing site – and some will start to use it, says Pollard. “We also receive referrals from one of our local doctors, but by and large, people learn about us through word of mouth.”

One reason why people may choose to use the AHF Pharmacy inside Out of the Closet is that this pharmacy will deliver your drugs to you. “We have a courier we use for local deliveries, and we use FedEx for those that are further away,” Pollard says.

Pollard’s expertise with HIV/AIDS medications also brings people to the door. “I give advice to people every day,” says Pollard. “And not just to those infected with HIV.” He says the pharmacy tries to touch base with regular patients as much as possible. “That’s one of the best parts of my job,” Pollard says. “I’ve developed relationships with some amazing people.”

One benefit of the pharmacy is that it will work with patients when it comes to paying for their medications. “Our goal is to make sure that AIDS patients do not have to pay out of pocket for their HIV medications,” he says. In addition to receiving funding from the AHF (which receives its funding from the store), there are other non-profit groups the pharmacy can work with to ensure that AIDS patients can receive their medications, regardless of their ability to pay for them.

But keep in mind – this is not a free pharmacy. With the exception of AIDS patients who often do not have insurance, the pharmacy will work with you and whatever payer you might be using to help with prescription drug costs. “We work with Medicaid, Medicare and all the private insurers,” Pollard says.

There’s no question that anyone with an AIDS diagnosis will benefit from using the pharmacy – and not just because of its convenience and its ability to help you defray costs. It also has that expert knowledge about AIDS drugs –“and we’re always watching what’s in the pipeline,” says Pollard. Over the last five years, medications for those infected with HIV have improved dramatically. “As new drugs come onto the market, we’re aware of them and can provide information on how they compare with current drugs,” says Pollard. That may be one of the best reasons to check out the pharmacy if you’re infected with HIV or have AIDS. Your doctor, and Pollard, can advise you on what is going to work best for you. “It’s why I came here,” says Pollard, who has been working at the AHF Pharmacy for over a year – before that, the Greenfield, Ohio, native was working at Cardinal Health. “I really want to help people out, especially those who have AIDS,” he says.

But you can tell from walking into Out of the Closet that everyone who works here does care. They care about the merchandise they sell, so they can get as much money as they can to help those suffering from HIV infections and AIDS; they provide fast, convenient and confidential testing that will determine a person’s status, yes, but also help those with AIDS on the beginning steps of their journey; and they help those who have HIV and AIDS with a convenient – and inexpensive – way to fill their prescriptions.

Out of the Closet is not your everyday thrift store, that’s for sure. But the AIDS community, as well as the community at large, is so very thankful it’s not.

Burington says Out of the Closet will likely be in the Short North, servicing the AIDS and the Short North community, for years to come. If he has one wish, though, it would be that AHF opens another Out of the Closet shop in Ohio – maybe in Cleveland, or Cincinnati, or Dayton. For now, though, Columbus residents are lucky. It’s already here.

Out of the Closet, 1230 N. High St., has free large-item donation pick-up. Call 614-291-2680 or 877-2-PICK-IT-UP. The pharmacy phone is 614-291-2670 and their website is at ahfcolumbus.com. Visit outofthecloset.org

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