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A Repeat Boutique offers resale items, including used clothing, books and toys.

A Repeat Boutique at Geisinger South in Wilkes-Barre opened with a ribbon cutting Thursday morning. From left are: Lissa Bryan-Smith, Dinah Hodgson, Renee Aquilina and Mary Casale.

Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE – Everybody loves to get a great deal.
Now people can shop for bargains while waiting for a doctor’s appointment at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre. A resale thrift store opened Thursday on the hospital’s main level near the gift shop by the Geisinger Northeast Auxiliary.
The resale boutique, operated by hospital volunteers and auxiliary members, sells everything from used quality clothing, including a new wedding dress and prom dresses, to paperback and hardcover books, toys and housewares.
A Repeat Boutique is open to the public, regardless of whether people have appointments or not, three days a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The auxiliary will use money from sales for community projects.
Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Lissa Bryan-Smith came up with the idea in December to open the shop after visiting an aunt in Virginia who runs a local thrift shop for her church.
“We are excited to open this shop in South Wilkes-Barre. It not only brings a quality retail option in the neighborhood, but also promises to help fund initiatives that benefit the community,” she said.
Renee Aquilina and Dinah Hodgson, auxiliary members and shop co-owners, were thrilled with how well the shop was received by hospital employees and guests.
They said that without the teamwork of several different departments the shop would not have come to fruition. The shop is in the hospital’s former MRI unit.
“It’s been total teamwork from housekeeping to maintenance to the interns to marketing and volunteers. It has been total teamwork to get it done really quickly,” Hodgson said.
Mary Kineg of Mount Cobb in Lackawanna County said she loved the shop as she found some great deals while waiting for doctors to finish a procedure with her mother.
“I think it is a very nice place to come, and it is so reasonable priced. Unbelievable, so many good things,” she said.
Shop facts

What: A Repeat Boutique

Where: Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, 25 Church St., Wilkes-Barre (near the hospital gift shop)

Hours of operation: 10 a.m. -2 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. -6 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Call 808-3651 to volunteer.
Donations of new and gently used clothing, toys, household items, books, DVDs, CDs, jewelry and accessories are currently being accepted. Donation receipts are available.