BETHLEHEM, Pa. — From the bottom of her heart to the top of her game.
One local businesswoman is kicking off 2025 with top honors from the community she serves.
The 330 Thrift at 421 W. Broad St., received Platinum wins in six categories by Community Votes Bethlehem 2024.
Fashionistas know that when you find big designer labels at no more than $10 retail, you want to shout it to the rooftops. And that seems to be exactly what shop owner Michele Jurkowski's customers did.
"It isn't easy running a small business, but times like these make it all worth it! Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It means so very much."The 330 Thrift owner Michele Jurkowski
In the six Retail Stores categories, just as it did last year, Jurkowski took top honors: Boutiques, Discount Store, Men's Clothing, Second Hand Clothing & Consignment, Thrift Stores and Women's Clothing & Accessories.
"It isn't easy running a small business, but times like these make it all worth it!" Michele Jurkowski wrote in a Dec. 27 post on Nextdoor.com's Fab Finds East Bethlehem page.
"Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It means so very much."
The awards came as a surprise, Jurkowski said.
"I don’t know much about it. I don’t know who runs it, or how it starts," she said. "Somebody nominated me last year. It doesn’t make me any money or anything, but it’s nice."
CommunityVotes has been the leading "Readers' Choice" platform for media outlets since 2014, the organization said in an email.
It's an "independently run campaign solely based on community input and feedback. We pride ourselves on being an independent and impartial platform that allows the community to be heard," it said.
The campaign runs a four-month open nomination round in which the public can nominate their favorites in a number of categories. Patrons can nominate their favorite businesses every 24 hours.
The top nominees in each category then advance to a one-month, closed-voting round. Users may vote for their favorites once per subcategory, according to the website.
'Nothing goes in our pocket'
The 330 Thrift is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
"We run on donations only," Jurkowski, of Bethlehem Township, said during a phone call Thursday while ringing up bargains.
"What pieces don't sell, I donate out to the community every Monday. We are just fashion here, but we take everything, because we do this for the community.
"Nothing goes in our pocket. It's non-profit."
"I do it so you can feel really good about being here and not being embarrassed, whereas we were embarrassed as kids."The 330 Thrift owner Michele Jurkowski
Jurkowski said she grew up poor, one of four children raised by a single mom. The family regularly received bags of hand-me-downs from others, mostly people from their Metuchen, New Jersey, neighborhood, and from her mother's place of employment.
"It was the most exciting thing," Jurkowski said. "And this was before thrifting was cool. Now everybody does it. You don't have to be poor.
"We had to do it back then. It was embarrassing, to be honest."
The experience grounded Jurkowski and seems to have ignited in her a sense of altruism.
"I've been in corporate America for years, then I got laid off," she said. "I always wanted to do this. I love it.
"I started with things out of my closet, because I'm such a clothes hoarder. I love helping people who can't afford things that they want."
Jurkowski doesn't turn things away due to season, and she washes and irons everything that comes in. She rotates pieces in order to keep things looking fresh.
"I just want everything to look nice," she said. "I do it so you can feel really good about being here and not being embarrassed, whereas we were embarrassed as kids."
'You should have a store'
Jurkowski has been known to invite community members to come in and shop for free — most recently, a teenager in need.
She also held a small business workshop for Community Options, a nationally based non-profit that provides housing and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
"We taught girls what it's like to run a business, what it's like to work, showed them different fashion senses," she said. "It was really fun."
"It was so small, I'd have to step outside when people came in to shop. It was all based on clothing from my sister's or my closet.'The 330 Thrift owner Michele Jurkowski
The 330 Thrift, named for her wedding date, started in a 200-square-foot shop at 1421 Center St., next to The Old Library Bookshop, not far from Moravian University's football stadium.
A 200-square-foot space is similar in size to a one-car garage with little room on either side of the car. Rent was $700, all Jurkowski could afford.
"It was so small, I'd have to step outside when people came in to shop," she said. "It was all based on clothing from my sister's or my closet.
"Before this, I used to have garage sales," all set up, and "people would say, 'You should have a store.' So I did."
Now at 421 W. Broad St., it's still just Jurkowski who runs the boutique. And it's still not a cash-only business. She doesn't charge a credit card fee.
"I don’t believe in that," she said.
One word: Adorable
Customer Kathy Handiboe said she has friends in Bethlehem who gave her a same-day invitation to the "Golden Girls"-themed drag queen show at SteelStacks.
Handiboe made the drive from Watsontown, north-central of Harrisburg in Northumberland County.
"So I got here a little early into town and thought I'd browse," said Handiboe, who could be heard talking grandchildren with Jurkowski in the background as she paid for her fab finds.
"I Googled 'shopping,' then 'thrift.' That's usually what I do," she said, explaining how she found the shop.
"They just popped up and bit me and said, 'Take me home,'" she said of the ivory eyelet-neckline sweater and geometric, longer, black and white one.
Handiboe had one word to describe the multi-room shopping experience: Adorable.
"I love it," she said. "The sign at the front says it gets more casual with each room. As you walk through this whole house, there's more and more to find."
What used to be a dentist office with two upstairs apartments, now is just under 2,000-square feet of practically priced fashions:
- Room 1: Fancy, with dresses and "going out" clothes
- 2: Business and skirts
- 3: Menswear
- 4: Sweaters, jeans and a 'little bit nicer stuff'
- 5: Sneakers, sweats, exercise clothes, sports bras, sweatshirts, more casual, 'the younger kids would go there'
"It's nice here, and the landlord is fantastic," Jurkowski said.
'I just love people'
The only advertising is done through social media, but there also are "a lot of people who come in and do videos and advertise for me," she said.
"There are wonderful people here."
"The purpose of this is so that you can feel good about yourself if you have to shop second-hand. A resale boutique with thrift store prices."The 330 Thrift owner Michele Jurkowski
The kind-hearted proprietor also supports young entrepreneurs, sharing her space with makers who sell soap, pottery, jewelry, handbags and photography.
"This is not a consignment or anything like that," she said. "A hundred percent of the money they earn goes to them."
Nazareth mother and daughter, Lisa and Allie Tallarico popped in Thursday afternoon, no strangers to the shop.
Coworkers introduced them to The 330 Thrift, and now they're among Jurowski's 'regulars.'
"I've taken my friends here. It's my favorite place to shop. It's the truth," said Lisa Tallarico, saying she's purchased work clothes, sunglasses, pocketbooks and dresses there. Daughter Allie has found many formal dress bargains from the racks.
Jurkowski's background in management, marketing and sales helps get her through the black-and-white parts of running a business, but her personal experience is at the heart of her shop.
"I've always wanted to do this," she said. "My sisters gave me clothes my whole life. They inspired me.
"The purpose of this is so that you can feel good about yourself if you have to shop second-hand. A resale boutique with thrift store prices.
"I just love people." And people who find her shop return the sentiment.
