photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Plans have been filed for a former convenience store at 23rd Street and Haskell Avenue to be converted into a warehouse/distribution center for a Kansas City-based thrift store organization.

A large nonprofit that operates a homeless shelter in Kansas City, Mo. has its eye on Lawrence. But there’s an open question about whether the group wants to start providing new services in Lawrence or whether it plans to use the city as a supply hub for its KC thrift store business.

What is clear is that City Union Mission has filed plans with Lawrence City Hall to convert a vacant convenience store at 23rd and Haskell — it used to be a Conoco gas station — into a “thrift distribution center.”

“The proposed plan is for the renovation of the old convenience store space into a holding area for items to be later sold at another location,” a representative for City Union Mission said in documents filed with the city.

City Union Mission — located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., next to the Greyhound bus station — is generally considered the largest overnight homeless shelter in Kansas City. It provides shelter for a little more than 200 people per night, according to the organization’s website.

I’ve played phone tag with the director of the organization for the last few days, so I don’t have specific details about what the City Union Mission’s plans are for the Lawrence community.

But the organization is a big player in the thrift store business in the Kansas City metro area. City Union Mission operates four thrift store locations — in Overland Park, Shawnee, Waldo and Blue Springs — under the City Thrift brand name. The proceeds from the thrift store help fund the homeless shelter operations and other programs of City Union Mission.

What I don’t know is if the company is opening up a distribution center/warehouse in Lawrence because it plans to have a thrift store in Lawrence, or whether it simply wants a location in Lawrence to collect donated items that will be taken back to the Kansas City area to sell in those stores.

If it is the latter, that could produce an interesting scenario where local residents are making donations to help fund a Kansas City homeless shelter, while Lawrence’s local homeless shelter continues to struggle with funding and general operations.

That dichotomy may cause some to wonder whether City Union Mission is interested in playing a role in providing shelter to the homeless in Lawrence. I haven’t received any indication of that, and it certainly isn’t addressed in the site plan filing made at City Hall.

The organization, though, is one of the longer-serving homeless shelter providers in the region. City Union Mission got its start in 1924. The Mission is a Christian-based organization that makes evangelicalism a part of its operations at the shelter, according to its website.

As for the Lawrence project, it needs fairly minor approval from City Hall before it can begin. Assuming those approvals are granted in the near future, look for some construction work on the site at 955 E. 23rd St. Plans call for about $85,000 of construction work, including interior renovations of the building, and a new exterior canopy to provide some cover for people who are making donations at the location.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Vacant space in the shopping center at 27th and Iowa streets is pictured in February 2022.

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Keeping with the theme of thrift stores and with the theme of not having as much information as I would like, it appears The Salvation Army Thrift Store in Lawrence will be on the move.

An employee at the store, currently located at 1601 W. 23rd St. in the shopping center behind Perkins restaurant, told me the store is slated to move near 27th and Iowa streets.

That’s the speculation I had heard around town, and the employee said that is what store employees also have been told. She gave me a name of a Salvation Army leader in Kansas City to get additional details, but I had no luck in contacting him.

As described to me, The Salvation Army Thrift Store would move into space formerly occupied by Factory Direct Appliance in the shopping center at the northwest corner of 27th and Iowa streets. If you are having a hard time picturing the space, it is the center that includes McAllister’s Deli, Dollar Tree, Joann Fabrics and several other businesses.

The Salvation Army Thrift Store, like City Union Mission, provides funding for that organization’s charitable endeavors. The Salvation Army continues to operate a social services center in downtown Lawrence.

As for the fate of the space The Salvation Army Thrift Store is currently occupying, I haven’t seen any redevelopment plans yet. However, the owners of that shopping center previously have been converting vacant spaces in the center into self-storage units.

If I hear more about either one of the projects, I’ll let you know.