A History of The POST in Medicine Hat
It doesn’t matter if you’ve lived in Medicine Hat your entire life or are new to the sunny city; chances are that you’ve heard of The POST. It is an iconic part of our local community and this year The POST is celebrating its 40th year of operation!
Located downtown at 410 South Railway Street, The POST is Medicine Hat’s premiere second-hand store. Whether it’s clothes, furniture, knick-knacks, books, golf clubs… the list goes on and The POST has it all! However, The POST is more than just a second-hand store full of treasures.
An idea arose within Medicine Hat’s Canadian Mental Health Association to open a second-hand store. 40 years ago, in December of 1979, that idea came to fruition. A location on Allowance Avenue was rented and the volunteers began the difficult task of launching Medicine Hat’s newest thrift store. The store was to be operated solely by volunteers and one store manager for the purpose of fundraising for the Canadian Mental Health Association.
The POST began with items that the volunteers had collected and donated from their own homes. With a few items collected, they began collecting clothing racks, building shelves, bins and partitions and then began accepting donations. The volunteers would often collect donations from around town and transport them to the store themselves, soliciting retailers for contributions as well.