The new organization operating the thrift shop at 125 West Main Street in Carrboro has been revealed, as Extraordinary Ventures announced Monday it would be taking over the space.

Extraordinary Ventures — a Chapel Hill-based nonprofit that provides jobs and workforce training to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — will add the thrift shop to its variety of businesses after CommunityWorx announced in late December it would disbanding and handing off the thrift shop after more than 70 years. The first floor space will remain a shop after Extraordinary Ventures makes updates to the store, including improving accessibility to be up to the University Design principles to help staff of all abilities and learning styles navigate around.

Executive Director Lisa Kaylie said in the announcement that adding the thrift shop to her organization’s ventures will be “a major expansion” of E.V.’s impact and visibility within the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community.

“The thrift store is a great opportunity for us to double our size and significantly increase the number of job opportunities we can offer,” Kaylie said. “One of the best things about a thrift store is that it will allow the community to interact more directly with our employees and experience the benefits of inclusive employment firsthand.”

Monday’s announcement also stressed Extraordinary Venture’s goal in honoring the thrift shop’s origins. Founded in 1952 by the Chapel Hill Art Guild as a way to raise money for art education in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, the effort developed into a business that supported the district’s Parent Teacher Association. A difference in vision between the nonprofit thrift shop’s leadership and the CHCCS PTA ultimately led to the group’s rebranding as CommunityWorx and its proceeds supporting programming for all school-aged children in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

After facing foreclosure at the 117 and 125 West Main Street buildings in 2024, CommunityWorx sold the property to the Shared Visions Foundation and struck a deal to remain on as a tenant in the first floor. The death of President and CEO Barbara Jessie-Black in October played a major role in the CommunityWorx’s board of directors re-evaluating the nonprofit’s future and choosing to seek another mission-driven local organization to take over the thrift shop.

The thrift shop in 2019 after rebranding to CommunityWorx from the PTA Thrift Shop. The nonprofit funded the construction of the building, which features the first floor space for the shop and office space in its second and third floors. (Photo via CommunityWorx.)

Extraordinary Ventures staff point to the Chapel Hill Magazine “Best Of 2025” decal at the Blue Hill Event Center in Chapel Hill. (Photo via Extraordinary Ventures.)

Once it restarts operations with its staff, Extraordinary Ventures said it plans to partner with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools social workers, the Inter-Faith Council and the Refugee Community Partnership to provide a voucher program for the thrift shop and seek other ways of impacting school-aged children and the broader community.

“The community has long valued this space as a place of connection and support,” Pam Hemminger, Chair of the Extraordinary Ventures Board of Directors, said in the announcement. “Extraordinary Ventures is committed to honoring the history of this location while thoughtfully evolving it to reflect our mission of inclusive employment and strong community partnership.”

Currently, Extraordinary Ventures manages and staffs the Blue Hill Event Center in Chapel Hill — which was awarded “Best Event Space” by the Chapel Hill Magazine for the third consecutive year in 2025 — as well as a laundry service, a gameday parking service, a line of gifts made by employees, a cleaning crew, a pet service, and an office solutions service. Beyond providing jobs for I/DD adults, the nonprofit also hosts events to promote local businesses run by or employing neurodiverse workforces and offers employer education about the benefits of hiring I/DD and autistic adults.

 

Featured photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.

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