Before 'Social Enterprise' was a common term, four Mennonite women in Manitoba, Canada, began an all-volunteer resale shop. They collected and sold donated clothing and household items, contributing the proceeds to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) The idea spread like a wild fire. In ten years 57 similar stores opened across Canada and the United States.

 

In 1982 a group of entrepreneurial leaders from eight congregations in Lancaster County became the official Board of Trustees to start an MCC thrift shop project in Ephrata, PA. Six months later the ReUzit Shop on Main Street opened and became the 58th store in the MCC Thrift Shop Network. 

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The vision at  Ephrata continued to grow with the opening of a furniture store and a Booksavers project in 1997. These two operations moved to 1054 South State Street in 2002 with volunteers remodeling the building.

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In September 2019, the three divisions (the downtown shop, furniture store, and Booksavers) consolidated into one location on State Street. Consolidating our stores has made it easier for folks to donate and shop all under one roof. The new building is designed to make processing of donations easy and efficient for the nearly 200 volunteers and staff members.