When community members heard that Debbie Cox may have to close her store, the DAC Thrift Shop on Dudley Street, they decided to conduct a community “mobbing,” where many showed up to the store to buy items at the local business that’s struggling or deserves more love.

Headed up by Christy Felix and Jaycee Bullock from The Hustle List, a social rating app for small businesses, and other community groups, the community mobbing was a success.

Cox’s thrift store sells high-quality clothing, furniture, jewelry, books and much more. The economics of the business became challenging when shoppers expected very low prices even on new or higher-value items. The Banner spoke to Cox about the history of the store, how it is doing since the community mobbing and its importance in the neighborhood.

“I’ve always had extra stuff in my home, and it just accumulated at an accelerated rate. So, I would have yard sales, and I’ve had so much stuff left over that people would always come to my house and they would say, ‘Oh, go to [Deb] and she’ll help you out.’ So I tended to collect lots of things, and when people came, I could always give them anything and I’ve been able to send things out of the country as well. That’s how it started because in our home, we were always that kind of a family to help those that need it,” she said.

She also talked about the December community mobbing of her store and how it felt for her to have people come out to support her and her business.

“The feeling is elation and gratitude,” she said. “I wanted to thank Jaycee Bullock and I wanted to thank [Christy Felix] from The Hustle [List], who without them, the event would not have been a success. They have supported me. Just behind the scenes, they’ve supported me, but the community now knows who I am on a much larger scale, and I can’t tell you, it brought me to tears a couple of times.”

Cox has continued her community work. She also helps those in need through the shop.

“Some of the homeless people out there you see walking around with shoes that don’t look right, or coats that are too thin for the weather. I’m not going to give them the top-of-the-line coat, but I say, ‘Hey, go get a coat off the rack and be warm out there,’” she said.

She also has care packages for those who are unhoused, which include little lunch boxes and toiletries, in the back of her store.

Ultimately, Cox hopes to create a space that can house the shop and community programs.

“My ultimate goal, in God’s grace, would be a store big enough where I can run my programs as well, a part where I could do our training, because we do CPR, we do financial literacy, we do other things, that’s not the thrift shop, but the organization. And if I had a big enough space, I would be able to do that, and we could run programs in the back, and we could do a bigger collaboration.”

Cox said since the mobbing the store has continued to stabilize and grow, as people are coming from and other sections of Boston as well as Chestnut Hill, Brockton and Cape Cod, for which she is extremely grateful.

“I’m a community store. You don’t expect them to come all the way up and they’re returning,” she said. “They’ve come that night, and many of them are coming back. …I would not have been able to do that. I am not able to afford that type of publicity. So yes, it just really fills my heart.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more at instagram.com/dac_thriftshop