The Diocesan Council of Marquette has 18 St. Vincent de Paul stores throughout the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Florence, WI.  Please select the store in your area to find location and contact information.

Featured Store: Ironwood SVdP Thrift Store

New Kid in Town

Word is out in Ironwood and it is, “Wonderful!”  Everyone is talking about the newly opened Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store at 216 W. Aurora.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has had a presence in Ironwood since 1977 when the St. Michael Conference was founded.  The Conference members expanded their efforts to assist the needy by opening a thrift store and housing a food pantry in the same building.

In 1986, Ironwood’s three Catholic churches were consolidated and renamed Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church.  The St. Michael Conference became the Conference of Our Lady of Peace (OLP) and continued the charitable work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

Eventually, the Ironwood area began to experience economic problems and a decrease in population.  As the Conference found that greater numbers of people needed their help, the SVdP Thrift Store was experiencing problems also.  It was increasingly difficult to find volunteers to work in the store and the building that housed the store needed greater amounts of upkeep as time went on.  By the fall of 2005, it was evident that the St. Vincent de Paul Store was going to have to close its doors.  In November 2005, the store closed and the building was sold in 2006.

Although the store closed, Our Lady of Peace Parish offered the lower level of the rectory to house the food pantry and provide an office for Conference members to assist those in need.  The volunteers in the food pantry and Conference continued to work many hours in the St. Vincent de Paul ministry helping others in and around Ironwood. 

While serving the people in Ironwood, Conference members began to discuss the possibility of opening a new St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store.  By fall of 2007, Conference members became convinced that a store was needed and with the help of the District Store Committee, began to search for a site.  After much prayer and viewing many different structures, a building in downtown Ironwood was purchased in late January 2008 and renovations began almost immediately.  Throughout the spring and summer, volunteers worked thousands of hours to transform the former auto parts store into the new Ironwood SVdP Thrift Store. 

On September 21, 2008, Bishop Alexander K. Sample blessed the new Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store and those involved in the SVdP ministry.  The store opened for business on October 27 and is open Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (CST).  Volunteers sort donations, stock the shelves and serve customers.