Summit local, Leslie Newcomer, is now the owner of not one, but two thrift stores in Frisco. 

Frisco Thrift and Treasure was a business Newcomer began six years ago. As time passed, Newcomer’s inventory grew tenfold, which meant she had two choices: buy another storage unit or open another store. 

Newcomer said the decision wasn’t a hard one to make. During the summer, she had a soft opening for her second location, Frisco Thrift Outlet. Now, the store is officially up and running to its full capacity with 500 square feet of room. 

Though both of her stores are “unique in their own way,” Newcomer said, they both share similar qualities. Both have a wide variety of options from clothes to homeware, and Newcomer said she never sells anything with rips, tears or holes, and she washes all clothes before they go out on the floor. 

Before opening Frisco Thrift and Treasure, her first store, Newcomer was an entrepreneur.  Then, she became a manager at a Summit County thrift store where she quickly realized that Frisco didn’t have many thrifting options. Newcomer saw an opportunity and took it. 

Her path was not linear, however. 

Before she found a longer lease for Frisco Thrift and Treasure’s current location on Colorado Highway 9, Newcomer had to move the location three times. The COVID-19 pandemic hit mere months after she moved for the last time. 

“When a lot of people would have freaked out, having kind of a relatively new business, just getting started, she made it work,” said Dorcas Beck, a close friend of Newcomer’s and a part-time employee at Frisco Thrift. 

In fact, the pandemic resulted in a plethora of inventory for Newcomer. 

“Stuff just came pouring in,” Newcomer said. “People moving out of their houses and giving me their whole house full of wonderful knickknacks, or tchotchkes or Sorel boots with tags on it.”

Newcomer also said a lot of people were buying things online. Though she’s not entirely sure, she has a theory that when folks didn’t want to return items they had ordered online, it was easier for them to donate. Though, she said, “It’s still a mystery to me how I get a lot of this stuff with tags on it.”

Newcomer said she has received so many donations, she could open up — and fill — a 20,000-square-foot store easily. 

Each day, multiple bags of clothes cycle through both of her stores. Because of the high volume of donations, the stores’ inventories are refreshed every day. 

“We call it the treasure hunt because it’s so much fun to go through stuff,” Beck said. From vintage purses to brand-name ski gear, Beck said the variety is always exciting and often high quality. 

Beck theorizes that their frequent donations are because of the environmentally-conscious folks of Summit County. 

“I think that people in our community would rather have something reused, than dump it,” Beck said. “If they have an option to donate something, they’d rather do that than throw it in the dumpster. I think that our community is very aware of and supportive of recycling.”

Newcomer is supportive of that effort, even with garments she doesn’t accept. 

Twice a week, a friend will drive from Denver to collect pieces Newcomer chose not to display in her store. All of the leftover clothes go to a Goodwill in Denver, where they are further sorted out and weeded through. 

“I just don’t have space for junk,” Newcomer laughed. 

One category she can’t turn away are the prime pieces of winter gear that show up on her doorstep every day. “My bread and butter is to keep people warm at a greatly discounted price,” Newcomer said. 

Vacationers will often come into her store, she said, and buy five helmets, five jackets, and five pairs of pants — enough ski gear for the whole family. “They don’t want to buy all this new winter gear that’s thousands of dollars,” Newcomer said. “Just for a week, instead of renting it, it’s actually cheaper to come here. Less expensive.”

Depending on the quality, brand and style of clothing, Newcomer offers T-shirts priced from $8 up to $42 for high-quality shirts, with similar prices for pants. Ski gear pieces range from $30 for ski goggles, $20 for a helmet, and prices range on the quality of jackets and pants. 

Frisco Thrift and Treasure is located at 105 North Summit Blvd. and Frisco Thrift Outlet is at 711 Granite St. Both stores are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.