Cars filled the parking lot and lined both sides of N.C. Highway 12 for the official grand opening of the Outer Banks Hotline Thrift Store in Frisco on Wednesday morning, with waves of islanders stopping by to check out the new location.
Tavern on 12, Frisco Sandwich Company, Frisco Rod and Gun, Gingerbread Pizza, and the Frisco Woods Campground donated food and drinks for the opening day celebration, and the Frisco Volunteer Fire Department’s fire truck made a guest appearance to mark the occasion.
The enthusiasm for the opening is understandable because for a brief spell in 2024, the island community was concerned that the store was in danger of permanently closing.
Hotline has been a fixture on Hatteras Island for more than 35 years. The first-ever Outer Banks Hotline Thrift Store opened in 1987 in Rodanthe, (a store that remains open to this day), and a second store followed in Hatteras Village a decade or so later, before it moved to Buxton after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
Hotline has always been known as a resource for folks who need essentials, however, the charity thrift store is much more than a cheap and convenient one-stop shopping destination. On a much larger scale, it serves as the frontlines for the non-profit Outer Banks Hotline organization to connect with the southern Hatteras Island community. As a result, it’s the place that people often turn to first when they are in dire need of help, particularly when it comes to sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking situations.
After leasing retail space in Buxton for roughly two decades, the store discovered in 2023 that they would need to find a new location by the end of January 2024.
In April 2024, after a months-long hunt, Hotline announced that they had purchased a new home at 53321 N.C. Highway 12 in Frisco, which was the former Surfside Casuals retail building.
The sale officially occurred in mid-April, and since then, stakeholders and volunteers have worked tirelessly to transform the empty space into a new and revitalized thrift store.
Now that it’s officially open, the Frisco Hotline’s hours of operation will be Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There’s still one gap in the Hotline Thrift Store’s long-term future, however, and that is volunteers to help manage the store.
Folks who are interested in being a volunteer can contact the Outer Banks Hotline at 252-423-4674 or send an email to bronwyn@obhotline.org.
In the meantime, islanders are encouraged to discover the new Frisco store, which as of Wednesday morning, is already one of the most popular new destinations on the island.
