The old has become new and the broken will work once again at Golden Goods Thrift and Repair, Yellow Springs’ newest downtown storefront.

Equal parts vintage thrift store and small appliance repair shop, Golden Goods plans to open its doors at 252 Xenia Ave. — the site of the former toy store — on Friday, June 5. Tentative hours will be Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Since assuming their lease earlier this month, proprietors and Kettering residents Nicole Cornett and Austin Wireman have spent the last few weeks packing Golden Goods with all kinds of treasures of yore.

Bright faux fur coats and camouflage crew necks are among the myriad textiles on the racks. Beyond the old wooden end tables, wicker couches and brass furnishings staged in the front are shelves of innumerable odds and ends — sheet pans, blenders, saucers and snowglobes to name a few.

All the way in the back is Wireman’s little workshop, where he’ll fix whatever “walks through the door,” he said.

“He’s just the handiest person,” Cornett beamed. “He can fix anything.”

And that means just about anything — from stalled ceiling fans and busted Sawzalls to suitcase wheels that stopped rolling and vacuum cleaners long kaput. House calls for bigger jobs like washing machines and gas-powered chain saws are also in Wireman’s wheelhouse.

“So, how can we be of service?” Wireman asked. “What do you have in your life or your home we can help you with? What would be beneficial to be rid of? Or can we give it a second life?”

Though not yet open, Golden Goods is already accepting donations — old clothes, baubles and domestic bric-a-brac. Cornett and Wireman requested that folks contact them first before cluttering the Xenia Avenue sidewalk with bags and boxes of whatnot.

“We don’t want this to become a dumping ground,” Cornett said.

As with any thrift store, one would expect prices to be reasonable, but Golden Goods takes it a step further. All items in the store are “pay what you can” — prices are customer determined.

“Everybody values things differently,” Wireman said.

He continued: “And let’s say you come in looking to furnish your house, but don’t have the means to. By all means, we got you. Come and pick out what you need and take what you will.”

Doing business this way is less a money-making approach and more of an ethic for Wireman and Cornett. They said that what brought them into the thrifting business was their lasting dismay with consumer culture, planned obsolescence and waste writ large.

Golden Goods Thrift and Repair owners Nicole Cornett and Austin Wireman are pictured showing off their new digs at 252 Xenia Ave., where the former toy store once sat. Fittingly, the vintage shop — making the old new again — resides in one of the village’s oldest downtown buildings, built in the 1850s. The couple rents from the Yellow Springs Development Corporation, which purchased that and the former hardware store spaces last year. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)

“This is environmental work — saving the world by not throwing each and every thing away all  the time,” Cornett said. “These days, things are built to break. There is just so much that can be repurposed or reused.”

Her partner pointed to the textile industry specifically.

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme 92 million tons of textile waste is produced globally every year. Production doubled in the first decade of the new millennium, while the duration of garment use decreased by 36%. An identified 11% of global plastic waste comes from clothing and textiles, with only 8% of textile fibers made from recycled sources in 2023 — the most recent statistical date.

Bearing in mind that grim data, Cornett said she welcomes all kinds of clothes into her shop — holes and stains are no matter. She’s constantly doing laundry, steam cleaning, power washing, sewing, mending and more.

She and Wireman have been at this kind of work for quite a while. They’re no strangers to social  media market places and online auction websites. They also run another business — Giving Peace — where they help people clean out their cluttered homes, organize closets and prepare for estate sales.

“Our home has basically become the town trading post,” Wireman said with a laugh.

“Right,” Cornett added. “We’ve been operating out of our garage ... even our neighbors’ garages, and the kids have started complaining. They’ve been looking for a place to put their bikes for some time, so we figured we needed a thrift store.”

And for the couple, their new Yellow Springs storefront is a longtime dream come true — one that harkens back a couple generations.

“My grandparents had two upholstery shops in Dayton way back, furnishing businesses and homes all throughout the city,” Wireman said. “I grew up watching their relationship and the love they had together and that was something I always wanted — to be in love and to have a business of my own and to work side-by-side with my person.”

“And this is it. We did it,” Cornett said.

Golden Goods Thrift and Repair will open Friday, June 5, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., with those being their regular hours Wednesday-Sunday.

For more updates on the store, search “Golden Goods Thrift and Repair “ on Facebook or Instagram. Donation or repair inquiries can be made via email at info@giving-peace.com or by calling or texting  513-227-5015.