Tyler Thrift, resale shop in Tyler, is set to give out inventory items for free on Sunday, Jan. 9, for East Texas residents to celebrate their yearly anniversary.

Stores don’t typically give away their inventory, but Tyler Thrift will be doing just that on Jan. 9 with a mission of helping those in need.

The local resale shop will open its doors and give away all items in celebration of its annual anniversary and also to help the community.

Kayla Ivey, owner of Tyler Thrift, said the store will be doing this for the second time since it opened in 2019.

“We wanted a way to celebrate our anniversary and we figured, ‘why not just give it away?’ It comes in for free and it can always leave that way, that’s what I always say,” Ivey said.

Those who attend the event will be given a box or a bag, but are also recommended to bring their own just in case the store runs out.

Shoppers will be given 10 minutes to pick out items and grab as many as they would like. Ivery said shoppers are also welcomed to get back in line as new items will be constantly coming in throughout the day.

“We’ll have a bunch of tables set up and we’ll just have totes and totes of stuff. We have a storage unit full and we’ll have our backroom full that day and once the backroom runs out of stuff we’ll go to the storage unit and grab more stuff,” she said. “We’ll do it in groups of 70 at a time.”

To Ivey, giving has always been something she loves to do. She said anyone is welcome to come and grab items especially with the hardships people have gone through these past few years.

“I just like to give out to people, I like to have fun. Especially with this year and last, people are getting poorer and poorer as far as I am concerned. Even if you don’t necessarily need it, like say you’re not homeless but sometimes just getting a free item out of the food pantry or getting something that you were going to buy otherwise just helps kind of shave off the financial load even if it’s not a direct need,” she said. “I just like to help people and see people come together and have fun.”

During the anniversary event there will also be snacks, food, drinks and raffles prizes. Ivey also welcomes community members to join and also give if they want to.

“If people want to bring snacks, drinks and if they offer a service and if they want to pitch in a service or a gift card, or a percentage. People are allowed to give and if they want to pull out their car in the parking lot and give stuff out, they can,” she said.

Ivey said this event shows how giving the East Texas community is.

“I know people come in and load up on books and stuff so they can give throughout the year, whether to the homeless or the less fortunate. Even if someone doesn’t need it themselves, they grab it typically to give it to someone that does,” she said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Attendees will have things to choose from such as household items, pantry food items, toys, games, books, movies, warehouse items, donations from a thrift store in Chandler and all the current inventory of the store. Ivey also mentioned a lot of more items are set to be donated.

Tyler Thrift is located in the Tanglewood East Shopping Center at 1700 S SE Loop 323 in Tyler and will open its doors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 9. Ivey put a time for closing but mentioned it may vary.

“We’ll keep going and we’ll probably go past 6, depending on how many people still want us here and if we run out of stuff but I’ll give it away until there’s nothing left in here,” Ivery said.

For those who would like to take part in the event and give or donate, contact the resale shop on Facebook under Tyler Thrift TX or call (903)630-5340.