Rome ReSale is relocating, but just barely.

Executive Director Angela Watts said the move to 252 N. Fifth Ave., one door to the west of their previous location, will give the thrift store three times the space in which to operate.

“We’re growing,” Watts said. “We’ve been squeezed in that building since about three months in.”

She said Rome ReSale was storing items in an old mule barn behind their building on Fifth Avenue and “it’s not weather-proof, so it’s been kind of a challenge.”

Rome ReSale, which opened in November 2010, accepts merchandise for resale and then makes quarterly contributions to other charitable organizations in the Rome area. It was patterned after a similar charitable thrift store operation in Jasper.

“The more space we have, the more stuff we can sell. The more money we make, the more money we can give away,” Watts said.

Watts said she hopes the expansion means the agency can put its store manager on a real salary, albeit likely minimum wage.

“I’m still on a very small stipend and will continue for a while, but we don’t intend on hiring anybody,” Watts said. “We’re just growing our volunteer base. It’s all about giving money away.”

Many of the items available at Rome ReSale come from individuals at the agencies Rome ReSale has supported in the past.

“People that they are involved with will help us,” Watts said. “We have a lot of churches that support us now; a lot of people do yard sales that support us.”

Watts said she expects to have the move completed by the end of this week.

“It looks really good,” she said. “We have a front retail space and the back is a big warehouse that is attached.”

The signs for the front of the new store are also expected to arrive by the end of this week.