As hard as it may be to believe, the thrift stores in town are dealing with increasing theft of donated items.
The Catholic Thrift Store is experiencing theft in and outside their store. Keep in mind that many items in the store sell for twenty-five cents or less, and most items sell for only a few dollars.
The thefts from both thrift stores seem to be centered on items left on the loading dock after business hours. Also, at the Catholic Thrift Store, there has been an increase in customers changing the price stickers on items sold inside the store.
According to Lt. Adam Sorell of the Concordia Police Department (CPD), both actions are crimes. "People are donating items to the thrift store, but that doesn't mean the public can help themselves to whatever is on the loading dock. Those loading docks are private property and, by law, removing something from private property without permission is theft. The same applies to someone changing the price sticker in a store. If an item is marked $3 and someone puts a twenty-five cent sticker on it, that is theft. In either case, the person can be arrested and prosecuted."
The Blade-Empire spoke with Father Joseph Kieffer of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish.
"We want to help people; if someone needs clothing or something else, come see us and we will help," Father Kieffer said. "Unfortunately, in many cases that is not what is happening. We have cameras at the facility, and some of our volunteers have seen people removing tags and changing the prices."
Father Kieffer said the thrift store board makes all the decisions regarding the facility, including when to call the police. The board has discussed many options for dealing with the thefts, like putting a locked bin on their loading dock and having specific times when items may be dropped off at the facility.
"I wish we didn't need to do things like this," Father Kieffer said. "We're here to serve the community. If people are really struggling, come to us. We are here to help."
Father Kieffer said their thrift store has only recently been able to see a small financial benefit to its operations, so even minor theft is an issue. "The pandemic hit us hard, but we felt the community needed the store. It's been revitalized lately; we've got more volunteers and better organization of things. Any profit that the store might make is donated to other charitable organizations that help people in need. We'd like to get back to that. Donations keep the store going, and those donations in turn help other organizations who serve the community."
The Blade-Empire reached out to representatives of the Fellowship Christian Church and thrift store for comment. At the time of the publication of this article, the Blade-Empire had not yet received a response.
On September 28, 2026, the Fellowship Christian Thrift Store posted this statement on their Facebook page:
'We are so grateful for your generous support! To keep our community safe and respectful, we kindly ask that all donations be dropped off strictly during regular business hours.
Because we share our loading dock with neighbors, after-hours drop-offs attract trespassers who sort through items in the dark, leaving behind messy debris and damaged goods...'
According to Lt. Sorell, some of the people helping themselves to items on the loading docks and in the stores are not people in need. "Perhaps some of these people honestly believe that the stuff on the loading dock is free so they can just help themselves. But, drug addicts will steal something and resell it so they can buy more drugs. And some people change the sticker price on an item inside the store so they can resell it online and make a larger profit. Either way, it's unfortunate that this is happening to two really good charitable organizations in this community."
Lt. Sorell asks that anyone who sees suspicious activity at the loading docks to contact the CPD.
