Pictured are Abby Green, Mary Wilson and Janey Eperson of Single SocksSilver City MainStreet is acknowledging downtown businesses that have persevered during the COVID pandemic with Downtown Silver City Strong awards. The awards are a way to say thank you to businesses that have worked hard to stay open and find new and creative ways to operate. Silver City MainStreet is grateful that they are located downtown. 

Thanks to a generous donor, Silver City MainStreet is able to give each business owner an award plaque. The latest recipient is Single Socks, a community thrift store. 

Single Socks, which opened for business in 2009, is a non-profit thrift store that donates 100% of its profits to anti-hunger programs in Grant County.

Kathleen Wigley was Single Socks’ store manager when the Coronavirus pandemic forced the store’s temporary closure in March of last year and its subsequent reopening in June. “Like all businesses in Silver City, I’m sure, it took some creative, thoughtful planning to get us to a place where we could reopen,” says Wigley. “Single Socks is a retail operation. A lot of our customers come so they can browse and mingle. We knew it was going to take some doing to keep our customers and staff members safe through solid social distancing protocols, and provide a pleasant shopping experience.”

In order to create a safe shopping environment, Wigley knew that a key element would be limiting the number of people in the store at one time.

“We brought in the town Fire Marshall for guidance on what our maximum safe capacity would be,” Wigley said.  “He told us that for a store our size, the maximum total number of people in the store at one time was eight. That’s eight people, including both customers and staff!”

By juggling some staff members’ shifts, Wigley created a schedule that accommodated the store’s patrons, volunteers, and paid employees, and kept them safe.

“Everyone has just been great,” Wigley said. “Because we can only have four or five customers in the store at one time, folks sometimes have to stay outside and wait until another customer leaves. Almost without exception, people have been very understanding and patient. I can’t say enough about the patience and understanding of our staff too. The cooperation and flexibility of everyone involved made my job a whole lot easier.”