Second-hand love

Seen from the Santa Fe animal shelter’s animal intake building, a new veterinary hospital is under construction and expected to open this summer. (Pat Vasquez-Cunningham/Journal)

Resale shops must be doing a good job raising money for nonprofits — both the Santa Fe and Española animal shelters have opened a second sales location in Santa Fe this month.

But the heavy lifting still comes from foundation grants, which are helping Santa Fe’s shelter build a new onsite veterinary hospital and the Española shelter build a special kennel area dedicated to nursing mothers and puppies.

Two foundations are paying for the new veterinary hospital, which will help take care of the 5,000 or so animals the Santa Fe shelter takes in each year, according to spokesman Ben Swan. “We had been operating out of a trailer. It’s been difficult,” he said. The new facility is costing around $3 million, he added.

“We figure the new hospital will give us that much more space to help more animals,” he said, noting that a shelter veterinarian performs a number of orthopedic surgeries. “We get one to three animals a week that have been hit by cars,” Swan said. “This will give them space and healing time.”

A stylized ceramic dog sculpture contemplates visitors at Look What the Cat Dragged In 2, the second resale store that benefits the Santa Fe animal shelter. The shop, which takes donated items, opened last weekend. (Pat Vasquez-Cunningham/Journal)

The new hospital is located between the adoption and animal intake centers off Caja del Rio Road on the west side of Santa Fe. It is expected to open this summer, according to Swan.

It will also include some services for the public, but those details are yet to be decided, he said. “We will see what will fit into our community the best,” he said.

Meanwhile, with the help of a $25,000 gift, as well as donations and discounted materials and services from Española government and local businesses, the Española shelter is looking to open a “$60,000 expansion for less than $20,000,” said executive director Bridget Lindquist.

“We will add eight puppy runs for litters and nursing moms,” she said, noting that the 550-square-foot project has not yet begun construction. She said the intent is to get fragile recent-borns and their mothers away from the hustle and bustle of the section with the adult dogs.

But the shelter’s operating fund does get a substantial boost from its thrift shops, she added, saying the shelter expects to net about $150,000 from the shops this year. “That’s a sizable percentage of our operating needs,” she said.

“The recession in some way has helped the business,” Lindquist said. “People are trying to stretch their dollars a little further.” That’s true both for people shopping there and for people bringing items to the shops, which take items on consignment or sometimes buy items outright for resale, she said.

While the shelter closed its Española store in December 2010 — too many other thrift stores and dollar stores in town drained its income — it opened a second shop in Santa Fe at 851 St. Michael’s Drive on March 2.

Dubbed Barkin’ Attic, the 4,300-square-foot space is dedicated to furniture, home decor and fine art, Lindquist said. “You can get anything from the rug on the floor to the art on your walls,” she said.

The new store arose primarily from the talents of Mark Young, who is managing it along with the Barkin’ Boutique, which has been in business since 2000 and has been located at 510 N. Guadalupe St. since May 2011, she said.

A certified appraiser with 14 years’ experience at Stephen’s Consignment Gallery in Santa Fe, including as a partner, Young said he started working with the shelters, first Santa Fe and now Española, because “I wanted to do something that mattered a little bit more.”

He proposed the new store because he saw it as a niche the shelter was missing out on. People who can’t afford a $3,000 sofa, for example, might be able to find that same sofa, slightly used, for $800, he said. “Resale can do well despite the market as long as you can adjust the pricing,” Young said.

“And people can support a cause,” he added.

The Barkin’ Attic is doing well, Young said, adding that he was a little worried when, on opening day, he sold 30 percent of the merchandise. “It took me a month to get that much,” he said. But more items have started rolling in.

A second ‘Cat’

Meanwhile, the Santa Fe animal shelter last weekend opened a new resale location — Look What the Cat Dragged In 2 — at 541 Cordova Rd. It joins the original store, which is located at 2570 Camino Entrada.

“We found that resale serves as a really great way for people who want to donate to the shelter,” but might be short on cash, Swan said. And, with the first location on the far south side, the new store gives a good outlet closer to the north side of town, he said.

At about 2,000 square feet, the new store is somewhat more upscale, perhaps a little “more hip,” with two young women with former retail experience running it, according to Swan.

“We are very selective on what we take, what we display,” he said. “It’s been really successful for us, so we decided to open another one.”

These stores sell donated items, which, at one point, included a display of an outfit donated by actress and Santa Fe resident Shirley MacLaine.

Swan said he didn’t have figures on how much money the shops bring in, but added, “They are very successful in helping us fund programs we otherwise couldn’t afford.” He said the shop proceeds help support the spay-neuter and behavioral training programs.