Leaders Explain Process of Rebranding Former PTA Thrift Shop

At the annual State of the Community Report in Carrboro last week, the PTA Thrift Shop revealed its new name. As the non-profit transitions its branding to CommunityWorx, its leaders are sharing what led them to the changes.

The steps toward rebranding began in June of 2018, when the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools PTA council requested PTA be dropped from the non-profit’s title. The amount of money being given to the individual school PTAs had been in decline as the thrift shop expanded its mission and partners, such as other youth-focused non-profits.

The thrift shop’s president and CEO Barbara Jessie-Black spoke recently with WCHL’s Aaron Keck following the rebranding announcement. She acknowledged requests for a name change from the local PTA council and the national PTA moved the non-profit into action. But she also said following the 2008 recession, the thrift shop realized it couldn’t rely solely on retail donations and led the group to consider becoming a broader brand.

“One could argue that we were nudged a bit to do [make this change],” Jessie-Black said, “but about 10 years ago, our board was kicking around the idea of ‘what if we did change our name to something else’ to keep in line with the totality of what we were doing.”

Jessie-Black said the thrift shop’s decision to branch out from solely funding the PTAs was a necessity. She said the pivot, while it led to a change in the relationship with the PTAs, allowed the non-profit to improve as a business and what it offers to the community.

“For us to continue to stay relevant long-term,” said Jessie-Black, “we needed to do something different or enhance what our current body of work was [at the time.] Looking at our business model more critically and saying, ‘where do we have some opportunity to diversify that model,’ was key to our success.”

Erik Valera is the executive director of Youth Forward, which works with YouthWorx on Main, the non-profit space adjacent to the thrift shop. He said the shop’s name change better reflects its mission and new slogan, which is ‘Youth, Equity and Opportunity.’

“It’s a lot closer to what is happening now in our community in terms of the work we’re doing with our partners and with equity,” Valera said, “particularly racial and economic equity in this town.”

Jessie-Black agreed with Valera, saying the organization used how it has grown since its creation to develop the new name.

“It’s interesting because when you think about what the PTA Thrift Shop has been doing since its inception in 1952, it’s been all about community with a focus on youth. This was a really nice natural progression into that name: CommunityWorx.”

A public ceremony will be held on November 15 at the thrift shop location on West Main Street to celebrate and officially unveil the name change. Valera encouraged all members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community to attend.

“We’ll have a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a reception at YouthWorx on Main,” he said. “We want to share this with the community that has been with us all this time and that we want to continue to stay with us for generations to come.”

Photo via CommunityWorx