St. Vincent de Paul transforms former West Mifflin church into its newest thrift store

Neat racks of gently worn shirts, pants and other clothes fill the center aisles of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Council’s new thrift store in West Mifflin. 

Beyond apparel, shoppers can peruse furniture, including dressers, tables and chairs. Shelves are stocked with glassware, dishes, lamps, small appliances, books and holiday decorations. 

Natural light bathes the store through tall, stained-glass windows. A large, round circle of stained glass sits prominently above the former church sanctuary space. 

Call it serendipitous that the retail outlet is housed in a former Catholic church. 

The society, a nearly 200-year-old nonprofit that provides support to struggling individuals and families, has its roots in the Catholic faith and relies on volunteers from Catholic parishes throughout the Diocese of Pittsburgh to carry out its mission.  

Its newest store occupies the former Holy Spirit Church on Old Elizabeth Road in West Mifflin. 

Set to open August 17, it will be the fifth store operated by the society’s Pittsburgh council. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with hopes to add Sunday hours eventually, said Jen Thoma, the council’s director of development.

All merchandise is donated, and sales proceeds fund assistance and programs for people in need. 

Among the employees tagging items as the store prepared to open was Misty Dean, 41, who credits the society with helping her family find temporary shelter after a period of homelessness. 

Dean was living in East Liberty when her husband sustained an injury that left him unable to work. While she sought employment to pay their bills, the couple and their 4-year-old son were evicted from a rental unit.

Through Allegheny County Link, a homeless and housing referral service, Dean connected with the society, which helped secure space for the family at a South Hills shelter. 

“St. Vincent de Paul said they would help me, and when they said there was a job here, I was all for it,” Dean said.

The society was scouting sites for a new store in the suburbs south of Pittsburgh in early 2025 when a member of its board of directors alerted leaders that the former church property in West Mifflin was for sale. 

The site's potential drew their attention immediately.

“We were amazed," said Ricardo Luckow, the society's executive director. 

In addition to the church – which opened in the early 1960s when membership in Catholic parishes was booming – a 9-acre campus includes classrooms once used for religious education, a social hall, commercial kitchen, former rectory and nearly 200 parking spaces. Holy Spirit closed in 2023, three years after it merged with three nearby parishes to form Triumph of the Holy Cross Parish in Jefferson Hills.

The society purchased the site in March for $700,000 and envisions it as more than a thrift store, said Luckow.

The society’s Pittsburgh council administrative offices are moving there from Brookline on August 19, and classrooms will be used to train volunteers. 

The Nazareth Family Foundation provided a grant of $11,000 for new video conferencing equipment that will enable remote training.

Other funding includes $60,000 from the state Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund for renovations and an undisclosed amount from the Philip and Patricia Muck Charitable Foundation.

The society initially planned to shutter its Penn Hills warehouse and relocate it to the West Mifflin site’s lower level, Luckow said, but current restrictions on tractor-trailers traveling on Old Elizabeth Road may delay or prevent such a move. 

The society is in talks with West Mifflin officials about resolving the issue.

“We’re trying to work that out,” said Luckow. “God has a plan, and we have to persevere.”

So, a lease for the Penn Hills warehouse has been extended, and the society is considering alternative uses for the kitchen and social hall located in the basement below the West Mifflin store.

“I’m confident some grassroots programs may emerge,” Luckow said. 

For instance, the kitchen and hall could be used for meal preparation for people in need and training for culinary workers. Discussions with community members have generated a number of ideas, Luckow said, including a day care center, community garden and social services hub that would provide assistance to the homeless and others.

The society’s 700 volunteers in the Pittsburgh region, who are members of about 50 “conferences” based at Catholic parishes, provide support services in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver, Washington, Greene and Lawrence counties.

The mission, Luckow said, is to engage in “personal encounters,” where two or more volunteers meet with those struggling to assess their specific needs, which can range from clothing and furniture to help paying rent and utility bills.

When the COVID-19 pandemic restricted home visits, volunteers opted for phone calls and meetings on porches and at other outdoor settings. During the pandemic, the primary need was food, and volunteers mobilized to provide it, said Luckow.

That challenge hasn’t subsided as grocery bills and other consumer costs soar.  

Food prices in June rose 3 percent over June 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. 

In Beaver County, during the height of the pandemic, a conference at Our Lady of the Valley Parish launched a food distribution program that now assists 100 families, Luckow said. 

“It’s good we can provide that; it’s not as good to see the need,” he said. “Food pantries were not part of our core mission 200 years ago."

The opening of the West Mifflin store comes after a financial turnaround for the society, which closed its Sharpsburg store in 2018 and Swissvale store in 2019.

At the time, the society faced a looming deficit, declining store sales and a drop in volunteers that resulted from shrinking membership in the Catholic Church.

That year, leaders in Pittsburgh called in consultants from the society’s national council. They recommended an action plan focused on upgrading point-of-sale systems at stores and improving the donation processing system. Within months, sales jumped at most retail outlets, “and we’ve had healthy growth since then,” said Luckow. 

Sales at the Castle Shannon store exceeded $1 million last year; sales at both the Castle Shannon and Monroeville stores have already eclipsed $1 million this year, said Richard McNemar, president of the society's board. 

In addition to West Mifflin, Castle Shannon and Monroeville, the society operates stores in Coraopolis and Penn Hills. 

A long-term goal is to open a store in the North Hills, Luckow said.

The society’s stores have benefited from a boom in thrifting, with the market growing by 144 percent since 2018, according to the Capital One Shopping Research report.

In addition to generating more store revenue, the society hopes to augment its resources through a $2 million fundraising campaign in the planning stages. 

Those funds are targeted for store repairs, replacement of two vans, updates to the former rectory at the West Mifflin site and construction of a loading dock if tractor-trailer issues are resolved at the new store.

“If we are patient and believe in our mission, we can get it done eventually,” said Luckow.

For store hours at all St. Vincent de Paul thrift shops, go to https://www.svdppitt.org/store-information