Second Tyme Around Thrift Shoppe has anchored the same stretch of Downey Avenue in downtown Downey since 1966, making it one of the longer-running fundraising thrift operations in southeast Los Angeles County. The shop exists to support Assistance League of Downey, an all-volunteer nonprofit, and functions as that organization’s major continuous fundraising activity, meaning every sale on the floor at 11026 Downey Avenue flows directly back into the League’s philanthropic programs rather than to outside owners or investors.
Inside, shoppers find a steady rotation of gently used clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry alongside linens, books, collectibles, small household items, china pieces, holiday decorations, and craft supplies. New inventory arrives daily, restocked entirely by volunteer members who staff the shop year-round without pay, and that daily turnover is what keeps regular Downey shoppers coming back to see what has just been sorted and put out since their last visit. The shop is open Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Sunday, Monday, and most major holidays, a schedule built around a volunteer staffing model rather than the extended hours of a paid-employee retail operation.
What sets Second Tyme Around apart from a typical secondhand shop is where the money goes once an item sells. Assistance League of Downey channels the shop’s proceeds into college scholarships for local students, Operation School Bell, which provides new clothing to children in need at the start of the school year, Christmas assistance programs for families during the holidays, and emergency housing aid for community members facing a crisis. That direct line from a five dollar blouse or a stack of donated books to a scholarship check or a child’s back to school wardrobe gives every purchase a tangible local impact, distinct from thrift retail chains where proceeds support a broader, less locally visible mission.
Donations are welcomed at the shop’s back entrance during business hours, covering clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, linens, books, collectibles, and small household items, though furniture is not currently accepted. Donors receive tax deductible receipts on request, and the League asks that items not be left outside the entrance when the shop is closed, since unattended donations left overnight are vulnerable to weather and theft. That kind of practical, community-minded operating detail reflects a shop run by people who are personally invested in both the store’s daily function and the causes it funds, not a rotating staff detached from the mission.
Nearly six decades into its run on Downey Avenue, Second Tyme Around Thrift Shoppe remains a fixture of downtown Downey precisely because its business model ties every transaction back to a visible community benefit. Second Tyme Around Thrift Shoppe is the volunteer-run resale shop of Assistance League of Downey, selling gently used clothing, household goods, and collectibles from its downtown Downey, California storefront to fund local scholarships, school clothing drives, holiday assistance, and emergency housing aid for the community.
