The Full Everly Seattle and Magpie Thrift Partnership Story

We may have been founded in 2025, but Magpie Thrift and Everly Seattle have been in the making for much longer…

Why are the non-profit and the thrift store different?

It’s true! Although Everly has a close partnership with Magpie, we are two legally distinct organizations. Everly Seattle is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, while Magpie Thrift LLC is a for-profit organization that supports Everly’s work. Magpie donates 100% of their profits to us and even shares responsibilities and important resources with our team.

This arrangement tends to confuse people. Why not just start the thrift store as a non-profit to begin with? Well, that’s complicated, but the short answer is… it’s just faster to open a for-profit business than it is to start a non-profit organization.

The long-term plan is to merge Magpie with Everly once Everly has the capacity to take control and manage both entities as a larger non-profit. In the meantime, we're all still in this together. We just have different paperwork to do.

…Then Came Everly (And Another Magpie!)

Everly and Magpie were founded side-by-side, but as we expected, it’s taken much longer for the non-profit to gain legal recognition and become eligible for grants. In fact, it took over nine months to get our 501(C)(3) recognition from the IRS, even after getting certified as a not-for-profit by Washington state!

In the meantime, Magpie Thrift has been supporting us the whole way though, even while opening up a second location up in Shoreline as of July 2025!

See? For-profits really do move faster!

This second thrift store location was opened with the explicit purpose of increasing funding to our non-profit and expanding the reach of our resource redistribution program! It’s also been an incredible way for us to get further connected with more people and organizations aligned with our mission in the greater Seattle area.

Suffice to say, this is a partnership that benefits both of our organizations greatly. Neither of us would exist without the other, and hopefully in the long term we’ll officially be one and the same.

The Everly Seattle x Magpie Thrift Origin Story

You’ve heard the short answer about why we’re currently two separate orgs, but here’s the long version. When Magpie Thrift was first getting started earlier this year, time was of the essence. And not just because it’s tough for any small businesses to get going! Let alone one trying to fund a new non-profit, too.

Magpie Thrift was initially established to fill the void in our community left by the closure of long-beloved Capitol Hill thrift store, Lifelong Thrift. Although the decision to close contributed to Lifelong’s new expanded meal service facilities in Georgetown, it was a bittersweet loss for the vibrant community that had formed around this store. Moreover, this closure was set to leave the store’s entire staff without jobs, many of whom were Queer, multiply marginalized, and concerned about finding other safe employment options.

In short, the team just wasn’t ready to say goodbye…so we didn’t! Under the leadership of Lifelong Thrift’s longtime director, Tamara Asakawa, we got to work with 3 key goals:

First Came Magpie…

With these first two goals in mind, our team closed down the old store and opened up Magpie Thrift the very next week. Thankfully, all we had to do was make sure the paperwork was in order and change out the signs! Asakawa, now Magpie’s owner and Everly’s Executive Director, had already leased the same store space, negotiated buying the old stock and fixtures, and hired most of the same staff back.

Thanks to the whole team’s hard work and preparations, none of the returning staff were asked to forgo their normal work hours or wages during this changeover. We knew the non-profit alone wouldn’t have the money to hire back an entire thrift store staff right away. Thankfully, for-profit businesses have access to more immediate financial options, like loans and sales revenue, which made this seamless transition possible.

So, with that, Magpie Thrift Seattle officially hatched April 1, 2025!

Now it’s our turn to give back.

Alongside this ongoing partnership with Magpie Thrift, we’ve been working on building out our Senior Program, which has been our biggest undertaking as a non-profit. After months of working with seniors at different stages in their decluttering journey, we finally completed our first official move-out with our lovely client, Joi.

We're so grateful to help use the power of thrifting to support our elders while contributing to a more compassionate, giving community for the next generation. We’ll be sharing a more detailed update on that story soon, so be sure to keep a look out for more on our blog or sign up for our mailing list.

Everly was born out of our team’s history working in both thrift stores and non-profits, so it’s only right that we start this journey off with a thrift store partnership. For years, we’ve sorted through the unwanted possessions of others while working to support those in need. Now, we want to bring the lessons of those experiences together to promote more sustainable systems of both care and resource distribution for all.

1. Keep the store staff employed, without any loss of income
   

2. Save a vital LGBTQ+ safe resource for affordable goods
   

3. Give back to the community that helped make us!