When Christine Miller took over as manager of the Warrenton Agape Hometown Thrift Store in April 2010, she realized that some donations to the store were a little beyond the usual thrift store fare.

"We had a Hummel figurine from the 1970s, an original Bozo the clown ventriloquist dummy, some composite dolls from the 30s and 40s and a 1900 JR Rice cut-class cigar cannister," Miller said. "And board games dating back to the 1940s, Cardinals and Budweiser collectibles and vintage Christmas items."

When a volunteer working at the store told Miller that a single vintage Christmas ornament was worth $40, Miller got an idea.

A donation from Hunter Construction of Troy—a former modular classroom that Hunter refurbished for Agape—was annexed to the thrift store building and completed in time for Agape to open a Christmas boutique.

With the holidays over, Miller saw the opportunity to re-purpose the annex as a higher-end antiques and collectibles shop. The shop opened on Jan. 5 and ran Thursday through Saturday last week. The sale continues through this Sat., Jan. 14.

Along with the previously mentioned items, the shop offered a 1950s Hopalong Cassidy pop-up book, 1940s and 50s vintage patterns, and handmade quilts.

In the past, in order to command better prices for those items, Agape staffers had tried listing them on eBay.com, and Miller also began listing some items on Etsy.com.

"Some of the vintage fabrics, linens and lace go better on Etsy," Miller said.

Proceeds from the thrift shop, the Christmas boutique and the collectibles sale help stock the shelves of the Agape food pantry, which assists families in Wright City and Warrenton. This time of year donations tend to fall off, so Agape leans heavily on income from the thrift store and the extra income from the new shop.

Reaction to the annex shop have been good, although Miller said that some of the regular thrift store customers have complained about the higher priced items in the boutique.

"I tell them, 'it's the stuff we typically put on eBay, but we're giving you first dibs on it,'" Miller said.

"And you don't have to pay postage."