Garnett Sturgill stands beside one of many displays at the Y'all Stop Shop on New Haven Road in Twin Oaks. The shop is operated by New Haven Church of the Brethren as a charitable organization.

Y'all Stop Shop open in former parsonage of Church of Brethren

When New Haven Church of the Brethren was looking for a way to help the community, a thrift shop eventually became an apparent choice.

The shop recently garnered a new name, the Y'all Stop Shop. It is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. New signs for the shop, which is the first house on New Haven Road after exiting U.S. 21 in Twin Oaks, should be going up within the next week.

The parsonage was abandoned after a new pastor was hired for the church. Bobby Reed didn't need the home, instead chosing to stay in his own residence.

The idea for a thrift shop came up during a men's and women's fellowship meeting. The New Haven Quilters were already using the parsonage's basement for a meeting place and a good area to produce quilts. The church members used to make applebutter and kraut, but opted against those options and were looking for other venues to raise money.

One member of the church, Garnett Sturgill, had been operating an antique shop out of her home for a number of years. When the new bridge over New River on U.S. 21 was completed, the shop was no longer located in a good position for business traffic. The home is now on Old River Lane, just over the state line in Virginia. It took up most of the home Mrs. Sturgill shares with her husband, Arville.

"I told them, ‘I don't really have anything to do and I have things to sell,'" said Sturgill. "That sort of led into it. From there, we were hoping to be able to do good things here."

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