Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep:#94: Four Corners Thrift Store, Your Closet’s Castoffs Are Doing Mission Work

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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We sit down with Jamie Taylor to explore how Four Corners Thrift Stores keep prices low for neighbors while funding a school, jobs, and care programs in Uganda. Jamie shares the Opelika store’s early success, his path to leadership, and why “thrift therapy” is real community care.

• Store locations in Roanoke, Talladega, Valley, and Opelika
• Opelika launch and customer-voted recognition
• How sales fund schools, jobs, and ministry in Uganda
• Daily impact: meals, uniforms, English instruction for kids
• Jamie’s journey from school retiree to operations director
• Prayer, encouragement, and follow-ups with customers
• Donations accepted during hours and large-load pickups
• Address for Opelika: 820 Columbus Parkway, near Angels Antiques

www.fourcorners.org


SPEAKER_01:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Google Hog.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome, and with me is Jamie Taylor. And Jamie is with the Four Corners thrift stores, and there's several locations in our area. Welcome, Jamie. I'm excited to talk with you today.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, ma'am. I'm excited to. This is uh all new to me, but I hope I can clarify my words in our uh local uh impact charcoal globally and locally.

SPEAKER_02:

Awesome. So tell me a little bit about the Four Corners thrift stores.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh yes, ma'am. Our Four Corners uh thrift stores are located in multiple locations and will be Runok, uh Talledoga, Alabama, Valley, Alabama, and also Opalaka, Alabama. Uh we are serving our local uh community there, and we have sponsors and donors that have provided uh much uh so much uh donations to us that we're just uh uh allowing our community to come in and shop and and save money and um be good stewards of what God's blessed them with, and for those that are lacking to be able to uh afford um good quality clothing.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh very good. Now the I've I live near the one in Opalika, and it's in a very nice location.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, ma'am. We're very excited about that. That's the newest store. We came in uh June and and started up, and uh we've been there for five months now, and we've received uh recognition of the uh best uh thrift store category uh there in Opalaka area, and so we we didn't apply for this or we wasn't nominated for this. This was the feedback from our customers, and we're honored just to be able to uh have this achievement in five months, and I'm excited about what uh this store has set. It set some high standards for our other thrift stores also, and so we're implementing some of those things and hope to see more uh recognition of our thrift stores.

SPEAKER_02:

So the thrift stores are actually connected with the ministry, Four Corners. Tell us a little bit about that relationship you have with that ministry.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh yes, ma'am. Our uh relationship with the ministry uh consists of uh Gulu uh Uganda, which is our mission field. Uh we have uh uh missionary opportunities there, we have four ministry uh four missionary homes there, two guest houses, and also we uh have uh pastors training center, we have a uh school there, uh we also have a women's refuge, uh, we have uh medical assistance, we have uh a farm there that impacts um uh approximately I I think we have 130 employees there. Uh we have over 300 kids in our school, and uh those that those grades are K through six. And so um we serve those kids uh two meals a day and plus uh provide them for uh clothing. Uh they wear uniforms, and uh the big impact that I had with those uh when I visit the mission field was that um the language that is taught in our schools is English, and uh also biblically we are teaching them uh the Bible. Uh Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so uh we have clarity of the gospel there, and uh we're very active.

SPEAKER_02:

So do so the thrift stores help fund that ministry, but also help the local community as well, right?

SPEAKER_00:

That's correct, yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, tell me a little bit about yourself, Jamie. What uh what is your journey into uh this ministry? What has been you know, what led you to do this?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I retired from Roanoke City Schools in 2020, uh, and I was sort of kind of doing my own thing after retirement, and uh the director of operations, uh Gary Clark, uh approached me about uh a job working with Four Corners to expand our Runo store. And so in doing that, I uh was just locally there and I had met so many people in our community and uh they know they want to know what I was trying to do, and and so anyway, my my boss uh approached me and says, Listen, says uh you're really good with people, and so many people know you, and we would like to uh see if you would be interested in taking the director of operations. And so we sat down with uh our president, Nancy Carpenter, and um and we made a deal, and I've been working with them since 2020 of July, and uh it's been a blessing. I've not only uh just enjoy my work, but I enjoy the part of the ministry of praying uh and also providing needs for our local uh uh less fortunate ones, and and then also being able to uh just receive uh uh donations from uh those that have much we understand much is required from them. And so I'm saying to you that it's been overwhelming. We're really blessed to have the support of our local communities.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, tell me a little bit about what you do for fun when you're not working in the thrift stores.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, actually, I I would say that that time frame is limited, but I am uh I have my family that is very priority in my life, and uh my wife of 44 years and um also my son and he has two children and his wife Brooke. Uh they just a little bit too far for us to have uh as much pleasure as we'd like to have with them at this time of our life, but um uh we're planning on going down and visit them very soon. But uh sometimes that's just seems like it's it's too many, too many weeks away when we get here.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Our lives do revolve around our families. Um so let's get back to the thrift stores here. Can you, you know, you've been doing this for a while. Is there any kind of misconceptions people have about thrift stores in general or uh about the Four Corners thrift stores specifically?

SPEAKER_00:

Um I'm I don't I'm not aware of any misconceptions on those, uh, but I do know that people uh come into our stores and and one of my favorite words is that uh they're going to uh uh tell their their spouse or friends that they've been to therapy and we call it thrift therapy. Uh people come in and shop and they just relax and just enjoy all the uh reminiscing of so many things that brings their livelihood to uh those memories and also uh to get good quality clothing from uh uh visiting our uh clothes racks.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, what's one thing you wish people knew about the thrift store that they may not realize?

SPEAKER_00:

That um when people come in our stores to shop, uh it is not only just to uh supply them with their uh needs, but also we go further uh than that. We possibly could see a um a saddened countenance or a um hackly uh person and we just inquire and have a conversation with them, and uh we sometimes invite them uh and ask them if we could pray with them and minister to them. And so we have done that from our front door to the back door to the parking lot, uh to returning their buggies back. Uh there's just there's just so many people that are in need of prayer and need uh help uh and encouragement, and that that's something that we we have really experienced this this past year more than ever, and I'm excited about that. Um not only that, but people um just recently I I met one excuse me. I met one in the parking lot, and uh not only has that conversation just been there, but I've communicated with him uh over uh more than that, that's I would say the the time frame of that. Yeah uh and I've called him and encouraged him uh uh after that. So several days after I've sort of kind of communicated with him, touch basis with him again. And that that's that's to me, uh they think that they're uh being ministered to, and it's helped them so much, but it's a big help to us also to see that our ministry goes further than just selling selling uh a product.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. You get to develop relationships with people through your work and uh through your ministry. Well, what are some ways that people can get involved with the thrift store? Um, I'm assuming that you take donations of uh clothing. What what kinds of things can people do?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, um they can they can participate in by um cleaning that excuse me, cleaning out uh their closets, um their storage units, um just where they have an abundance of transferring one season to the other uh and then not knowing what to do with that. Uh they can give us a call, excuse me, uh, and we will uh go out and pick up uh large loads and also um we'll allow them to come by and make donations to us. Uh we have drop boxes at um at some of our locations, and so it's such a blessing there with that. But uh we do receive donations uh from our time of opening to the time of closing our stores. Okay. Well, what's uh what's the address for the Opalica location? The Opalaka address is 820 Columbus Parkway, Opalaka, Alabama.

SPEAKER_02:

And you're right next to Angels Antiques, right? It's in that same little shopping center. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And I want to say something about that. Angels Antiques has been very welcoming to us and uh very supportive of our ministry, and we've we've uh made some new friends, and uh we've had opportunity to also not only just make friends but to um uh uh pray with them and minister to them in our in our way with uh through the Lord's uh uh calling upon our lives.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, what's the phone number there? And uh I'm assuming you have a website.

SPEAKER_00:

And that uh Miss Susanna, I don't have that before me.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, it's Four Corners Thrift Store on Columbus Parkway. Awesome. Well, I've enjoyed talking with you, Jamie, so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, man. Thank you, Miss Susanna.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpauburn.com. That's gmpauburn.com. Or call 334.