Lynsey Champion has alwasy been something of a thrift store aficionado.
She’s turned that passion into her newest business venture, Oops Thrift Store.
Champion, a Great Britain native who moved to Iola more than a year ago, took over the old Shannon Hardware building at the intersection of Jackson and Washington avenues at the northwest corner of Iola’s downtown square.
Within months, Champion had opened Champion Cuts, a pet grooming business, with her sights on additional business ventures in the roomy building.
In the front, she is converting what had most recently been Derryberry Breadery into a full-scale restaurant and bar. (That work is still ongoing.)
In the interim, Champion saw room for yet another business venture, and decided to convert a portion of the facility into a thrift store.
She and business parter/daughter-in-law Patience Simpson are both confessed thrift store fans, she said, so much so that they’d often go on shopping excursions, only to realize they would be purchasing much more than intended.
“Oops,” Champion laughed. “We did it again.”
The name stuck.
She hopes to attract shoppers utilizing either her pet grooming services, or perhaps restaurant patrons when that section opens. (She’s uncertain how long that will be until it opens.)
Oops Thrift is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
