Col. Richard Rusnok, base commander, speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new thrift shop at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Dec. 10, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — The thrift store at this base south of Hiroshima reopened this week under new management, nearly nine months after the base commander ordered it closed for undisclosed reasons.
The shop, which takes used clothing, appliances and other household items and makes them available for reuse by the air station community, is now the responsibility of a Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society chapter.
MCAS Iwakuni’s senior enlisted Marine, Sgt. Maj. Jody Armentrout, contacted the society director on base, Christina Grantham, in August about reopening the thrift shop, Grantham said Tuesday at the grand opening.
“I wanted to make sure that we had something that was sustainable throughout the next years,” Armentrout told Stars and Stripes at the store. “That it was ran complete, ran right financially, making sure the money is going to the right purposes, for the right reasons, making sure that we’re taking care of the community.”
Customers browse inside the new thrift shop operated by the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Dec. 10, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
The relief society provides financial assistance to service members in need in the form of loans and grants; it also provides tuition assistance and financial assistance for permanent changes of station, medical or dental costs and emergency travel.
Last year, for example, the society provided $50 million in financial assistance, according to its website.
It also operates thrift shops, including those at the Sasebo and Yokosuka naval bases in Japan and at Pearl Harbor.
Getting the MCAS Iwakuni store back in business was no easy feat, Grantham said.
“We wanted to open by Christmas, and so it was definitely a challenge to go from August to December and open,” she said.
The shop was without any inventory, but it had a team of 28 volunteers behind it, she said. The Sasebo shop provided some merchandise to get things started.
“The thrift shop fills a critical gap in the community,” base commander Col. Richard Rusnok said at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Base commander Col. Richard Rusnok, right, and Sgt. Maj. Jody Armentrout browse inside the new thrift shop run by the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Dec. 10, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
The donated items are repurposed, resold and kept out of the garbage stream, he said.
Rusnok had ordered the store closed in March without publicly stating a reason.
“I understand the store’s current situation is a result of numerous factors, and I very much appreciate your efforts to serve the MCAS Iwakuni community,” Rusnok wrote to the nonprofit that ran the shop at the time. “However, I do not believe all the issues related to store operations can be fully resolved under its current structure.”
On Tuesday, he highlighted the effort made by the base Seabees detachment, which renovated and refurbished the building while it was vacant.
“We all know how important the community’s need is, and what Navy-Marine Corps Relief provides every single day of the year here, upwards of $350,000 a year in grants and travel expenses and things like that go back out to the community,” he said.
The society has the highest charity rating from charitynavigator.org, a website that evaluates and rates charities on their cost-effectiveness and overall health.
“My hope for the thrift shop is that it’s a hub,” Grantham said. “So, for people to serve, for people to repurpose things and 100% of the sales go and feed the larger Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society mission.”
