MARFA — The Marfa and Presidio County Museum Thrift Store is steadily improving following a period of financial strain, according to museum board members. While the primary function of the thrift store is to generate revenue for the local history museum, it has recently struggled to make enough to cover its own expenses.
“The museum was supporting the thrift store instead of the other way around,” said Board Member Martha Stafford. “But the past two months, we have actually made a profit. That was with cutting labor costs and being really judicious about turning the heat on.”
Board members recently decided to operate the thrift store on an all-volunteer basis as a cost-saving measure, Stafford said. Now, the only expenses that remain are rent — $475 — and utilities for their space in the Marfa Activities Center.
Board President Mary Williams said the thrift store only made a profit one month out of the entire year last year, prompting museum leadership to consider its permanent closure.
“A couple meetings ago, we were even thinking of closing the thrift store or reducing hours on the museum,” Williams said. “But we thought, we can’t do that. These are permanent fixtures in our town, and they help people.”
“The visitors who come to the museum love it. They love learning about all the movies that were made here, the ranching, and they have lots of questions, so we gotta keep it going,” she added.
The museum held a successful bake sale last week, making around $1,200 off of community-donated baked goods, museum merchandise and thrift store clothing. Williams said that from the Marfa National Bank — which purchased $100 worth of goods for a board meeting — to local restaurants to out-of-town spring breakers, it was refreshing to see so many people come out in support of the hometown museum.
“We had a great bake sale,” Williams said. “The community came out. So many restaurants donated baked goods to us.”
Stafford said the museum is currently seeking thrift store volunteers, especially those willing to sort through donated items. Volunteers skew older, she explained, and have a difficult time lifting heavy boxes. She encouraged the community to abide by the thrift store’s open hours — Wednesday through Friday 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. — for donation drop-offs. “We love their donations. However, we need them to donate when we’re open,” Stafford said.
Board members are discussing the possibility of keeping the thrift store open later one night a week so those who hold 9-to-5 jobs have time to donate, she said. They recently reorganized to make it easier for customers to browse and find what they need, she said.
The Marfa Museum is currently open seven days a week, from 1 to 5 p.m., and is operated by paid staff.
The City of Marfa — which owns the Marfa and Presidio County Museum — budgeted $100,000 in historic preservation this year to remedy longstanding issues with the adobe structure and for upkeep of the USO building. Engineers visited the museum in 2023 and determined repairs to an eastern wall that had previously suffered from water damage were holding up.
“Finding out that the exterior wall that had the water damage is not moving anymore after it was shored up a few years ago — that was good news to hear,” said City Councilmember Mark Morrison.
Now the main issue that needs to be addressed is the floor in the room with the previously deteriorating wall, which has been closed off to visitors for years due to safety concerns. Morrison, a contractor, took on the museum repair project for the city after no other entities answered repeated requests for proposals, he said.
Morrison said like many projects in the area, progress has been delayed due to a shortage of skilled labor, and he is currently seeking someone to perform the floor work for a reasonable price. The work will involve tearing up the existing flooring to make way for new flooring as well as putting a concrete beam in and putting new joists on it. Cosmetic cracks in the walls will also be repaired and repainted.