In the spring of 1989, the shop had the opportunity
to move to a new location at 3945 Gravois.
It would involve a lot of hard work and elbow
grease, but that wasn’t going to stop our volunteers
from helping the animals. Bill & Kathy
Hessler, Millie Mulcahy, Dorris Kracke, Joan
Longhibler and Shirley Rebhan had to tear up
four different kinds of ragged floor coverings,
remove trash and completely paint the whole
place, but they were determined. The new shop
opened its doors on June 13, 1989. August
1999, they were able to acquire the building
next door so now we had a double side and
were able to handle bigger items like furniture
and small appliances. Our members donated
everything to help with all the improvements
and of course the ladies at the shop added the
elbow grease.

In the beginning, the shop did really well
because we had nice things donated. We also
were able to get bigger items from estates.
We hit one million dollars in sales on October
2002; that was exciting. From the beginning we
had some really wonderful volunteers. To this
day, three of our wonderful ladies are still with
us: Kathy Hessler, who manages the shop and
takes home all the linens and stuffed animals
(to clean, iron and fluff them so they are ready
to sell), Millie Mulcahy, who puts in a lot of
hours and prepares the jewelry, and Ellen Barrios,
who is our accountant and pays the bills.

Dorris Kracke, who took care of all the clothing
was with the shop until last year when she had
to retire due to illness. Leo Hellmann has been
our landlord from the start and has always been
very helpful with anything we need.

As with any business, there have been ups
and downs. The upside is that Bingham Street
Bargains has made a lot of money to help the
homeless animals in our care. There have
been a lot of volunteers who have
given their time to work at the shop
because they care about the animals.
The donated items have always poured into the
shop, which is how we made so much money.
And if the walls could talk, I’m sure they could
tell some tales.

Unfortunately, the downside has come, and we
have made the decision to close Bingham Street
Bargains’ doors. We have not been making the
money we used to and our volunteers are dwindling.
The shop has been open for 20 years and
that is 19 longer than some thought it would
last, so we feel good about the fact that it has
lasted this long.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped
it be such a success and would especially like to
thank Kathy Hessler, Millie Mulcahy and Ellen
Barrios for continuing the dream and putting so
much into helping the homeless animals in our
care. Thanks again!