Ten years of Hidden Treasures in Brillion

Aug. 8, 2019

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

BRILLION – It’s been a decade of thrift shopping in Brillion.

Hidden Treasures Thrift Shoppe opened in Brillion on Aug. 13, 2009. Since then the location on Main Street has received plenty of donations, donated back to the community in multiple ways totaling $358,192 and attracts customers from young to old on a daily basis.

The store will celebrate 10 years with a sale where everything in the store is 50 percent off from Wednesday, Aug. 14 to Saturday, Aug. 17. Clothes and other items will be at low-cost.

The building is owned under the 501-c-3 non-profit that was established under the name, and run entirely by volunteers.

“We’re kind of a hybrid thrift store. Most of them have one cause that they support,” Hidden Treasures Board President Carole Rajkovich said.

Hidden Treasures has donated in a variety of ways including to the Brillion Nature Center, the indoor splash pad, the Brillion Police and Fire Departments, Brillion Fest, Rock the Block, New Hope Center, Sting Cancer, Brillion food pantry, the Gathering Place in Reedsville, every church in town, individual missionary trips and other unique individual cases.

The current board is comprised of 11 members. There are around 70 volunteers who take shifts to work in the store. Rajkovich has been involved since the start.

“My husband and I used to go to all the thrift stores looking for stuff for plays and musicals,” Rajkovich said, recalling her days with the Brillion Music Department.

The wheels turned in Rajkovich’s head to bring something similar to Brillion. Rajkovich and fellow board member, Jolene Gerhartz, started looking around the city for a location.

Evie and Merlin Wieting built the facility, and used it for multiple purposes. The building has been a furniture store and a carpet store. 

Please see the complete story in the Aug. 8, 2019 edition of The Brillion News.