Searching for a designer dress, a high-end handbag or bar mitzvah-worthy pumps? How about some men’s shirts, a silk tie or maybe even a tuxedo?
Before heading to the mall, why not check out Scene II by Hadassah’s resale shop at Club Centre, 1500 Reisterstown Road, Suite 207 in Pikesville? You may be surprised by what you find there.
Best of all, proceeds from your purchases go directly to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and Hadassah University Hospital-Mount Scopus at a time when Israeli hospitals desperately need resources.
Since the pandemic, Scene II has been managed by Hadassah past presidents Barbara Fink, who handles the shop’s merchandising, and Barbara Black, who oversees operations.
Prior to taking on running the shop, the two Barbaras did not have any retail experience. While Fink is a former human relations administrator and stay-at-home mom, Black was an information technology professional.
Yet, both women care deeply about Hadassah, its mission and the shop’s important place in Baltimore’s Jewish community.
About 30 devoted volunteers help Fink and Black operate the store, which is open four days a week — Tuesdays-Thursdays from 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
“There used to be Hadassah resale stores all over the country,” says Fink. “They started in the 1940s as a way to help fund kids from Germany, Poland, coming over to escape the Holocaust. Baltimore’s original store was on Eutaw Street. Our shop is the only [Hadassah resale shop] in the country that still exists.”
Black says she, Fink and their volunteers are frequently amazed by the quality of the items donated to the store, located across from Goldberg’s New York Bagels.
(Photo by Robyn Stevens Brody)
“I just get surprised every week,” says Black. “We have a lot of Saint John [knitwear]. Chanel shoes! And there are specific people that come in and pay whatever it is.”
Adds Fink: “We just saw two pairs of Prada shoes! Designer purses, too. I’m constantly going through the pricing and saying, “Oh, my God, we cannot charge this [low price] for this item. We have to up because it’s a major designer. …
“Someone said, ‘These aren’t thrift store prices.’ I said, ‘We’re not a thrift store, we’re a charity store.’ We’re not wheeling and dealing on prices. If I give you a dollar off, it’s not going to the hospitals. Now especially [in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks], we have a strong commitment to Israel and the hospitals and what they do. They’re phenomenal, cutting edge.”
That said, the shop does have frequent pop-up sales, says Black.
“We have an email list of close to 1,100 customers, and pretty much every week we send out a flyer to the entire region [informing them] what’s on sale, what’s being featured.”
Clothing isn’t everything customers are likely to find at Scene II. The shop also carries tchotchkes, housewares, Hadassah donation cards, jewelry and art.
“We also have a lot of Judaica,” says Fink. “People seem to think if they’re going to get rid of their Judaica, it must come to us. We get it from all over the country because we’re the only [Hadassah] store.”
Part of Scene II’s draw is its friendly ambiance. “Barbara says, ‘It’s like going shopping with your girlfriends every day!’” says Fink.
Says Black “It’s like that 95% of the time. Our customers are amazing. They’re from all over the community. I love going in there and seeing [customers] and volunteers. … It’s just fun.”
Fink says the shop is also a great place for people to meet and form friendships.
“Hadassah has always been a really good place for people to meet other people from out of the mainstream,” she says. “I think a lot of our volunteers are coming in because they didn’t grow up here. They want to come in to chat a lot of times.”
While Scene II’s main mission is helping Hadassah hospitals, the shop also makes a difference in Baltimore’s non-Jewish community. When Black and Fink receive donations that don’t meet the shop’s quality standards, they give them to a local church.
“[The church has] one day a month when they clothe the homeless and use our clothes,” says Fink. “Apparently during prom time, by using our gowns and tuxes, they were able to give Carver [Vocational-Technical] High School in the city enough for their proms!”
Black says the shop’s relationship with the church has been particularly “rewarding. Maybe our people couldn’t use them, but these kids could. That’s so wonderful. It’s universal that people need the clothes.”
For information, visit facebook.com/HadassahScene2ResaleStore/, email Baltimorestore@yahoo.com or call 410-486-9851.
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