Route 66 Adventures: The Story of Thrift~N~More in Yermo, CA

Hello everybody, this is Howard Fox and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series. I am still out here in California. It is a I don't know midday, a little after midday on a Sunday, and I am being escorted around little towns around Newberry Springs, Route 66, and we have found our way to Yermo, California. This is gonna be the first of two visits in the area, and there is a reason why I am in Yermo, California. You'll find out shortly. But I get to introduce you to Ron C. Birdellis. I am with Ron right now with my partners in crime, Brad and Carla. I am in the Thrift and More store here in Yermo. If you've ever come here, it is it's like walking back into history with all the antiques and the the thrifting opportunities that are going along. And I want to go see what they have in the way of coffee pots of sorts, but in a bit. But but first I really want to introduce you to Ron. And he is the with his wife, Jean, is the owner of the store. And love to chat with you a little bit about the his history, the store, but also where is the connection to back to Newberry Springs and Route 66. So Ron, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for taking time out of your day. Thank you for being here. Excellent. Now I gotta ask, are you always open on Sundays? Yes, we are. And how many Sundays have you ever counted? Oh no. We just started Sundays about two months ago. Okay. But the store has been around for 30 some years. Correct. Okay. How did you happen to get into the thrift store business?

Well, it wasn't by choice in the beginning, but a friend of mine came we had a home here in Newberry Springs, and he would come up from time to time, and one day he just came up and said he lost his job and that he wanted to start a thrift store here in Yermo.

Okay.

And so we helped him get started, and he only lasted three months. And so we had no choice but to sort of get into it and clean up what he left behind, and that's what we did, and now it's been 35 years.

Okay.

Now what is the the success uh in the art of thrifting? And and I would imagine there has to be an art and to have that kind of success and longevity for 35 years.

Well, you have to have a liking for it because there's no place you can just go to in the catalog and order the stuff. You have to go out and look for it. And when you do, you have to have an eye for it, and you just have to it's a a road of hard knocks to learn.

Okay.

Now you're spending how many days a week are you here?

Myself personally? Yeah.

Six days a week. Six days a week. And your your wife Jean, when does she uh never. Never so this is her way. Look, I I just get out of the house, go do what you gotta do. Correct. I am curious, has there been a time and there has to have been in 30 some years that somebody called and said, Do you have this? And you said, I just so happen to have one. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay, I love that. Yeah. What is is there a particular item when folks come into thrift stores that they're looking for? Is it run the gamut? It's the gamut.

Okay.

Yeah, it's everything. That's why we have such a variety of items. You never know what people are looking for.

Okay. I and I was taking some photos and looking around, and it's like, this is pretty amazing. I I need to I need to come back here, I think, just to just to spend some time. And it has there been a particular item that wow, glad we got rid of that thing. I never or I never thought I was we were gonna get rid of that.

Sure. Okay.

Okay, you're being evasive, but that's okay. So how do you find the items and how do you know this is an item that's gonna go in the store?

Well, when we go out on a Saturday and we'll we hit on in during the summer that we hit about fifty or more yard sales a day. Fifty or more a day. Oh my. Yeah, we were very serious about it. Okay. And you can just tell and that it might be an item that somebody might have some interest in it. And sometimes we score and sometimes we don't, as I said, but uh it's hard to say. In talking to people what about I an ideal, you have an idea about what they're looking for. Sure. And so that's about it.

Okay, okay.

And so you've got the store in your mouth. You live in a very beautiful place in Newbury Springs. Right. On Lake Jody. No. No, used to have that. Used to have it. Used to have it. Okay. By the way, it was a very nice place. I was staying at Renee's place. Oh, okay. Okay. I was like, I could get used to this. Yes. So you you're in your you're in Newbury Springs. What uh is yours and your wife's involvement with the Centennial and Route 66 in that celebration?

Well, we we have not been involved so much, but we think this is an important one, and it's a lot of fun to put something on like this. And Carla got us involved. And uh She has a habit of twisting arms. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, she's good at it.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, but we're out we are busy people, and so we're not as involved as Carla, but we want to throw our support in that area. Okay.

How has Newberry Springs changed over the years for you, you you and your wife?

How it's changed us? Yes.

How how is it changed? How has it changed living in the community all?

It just Well, we came out of Riverside. Okay. Busy, busy life. I know Riverside. Yeah. Okay. Forty-five years there.

Okay.

And we like I said, when my wife, when we sold our business and we my wife said, What are we gonna do? Right. I and I said, I don't know yet. And she said, Well, let's move to the lake. I didn't have a second thought. It was that was it. Let's do it. And it was the best move we ever made. Okay. And it it's just the people are friendly. I like having just the main roads paved and the rest are dirt. Yeah. I like the minimum of two and a half acres, and you can have more if you like, and there's no neighborhoods per se, and there's a lot of activities, one restaurant, right, but it works. It works real good. Well, very good. I don't want to tell your people too much because they might move out here. Well, you know something?

One of my ongoing, I think it's hilarious. It's my running joke, is I'm always looking for my next place to live. Oh, yeah. And I was we were we were having a conversation just recently before we came here with Steve Hamilton and learning about the the the storage containers. And I'm thinking this could work. Yeah. Would you mind if I move to the community? Oh, sure, you can move in.

As long as you're you have two and a half acres and you're out about it.

Okay, and I'm away from you. Look, I'll even I'll even come to the thrift store and spend the day and help. Then you're welcome. Look, I'm I give back too. I give back to. Well, listen, I want to thank you for taking time uh out of your day. I know we're we've we're gonna go visit Gene and Diane shortly. There's some very special four-legged, wonderful animals to to to meet. Hopefully they'll let me touch them. Oh, yes. I'm a nice guy. And uh but it I really appreciate you taking time to chat. Now, before we head out, if listeners to this podcast are making their way on the 15, Route 66, they see next Girmos coming up. What's the best way for them to find out about the store?

Look at our road signs. Okay, thank you. That's number one. Okay. Don't speed, okay, and get off at the off-ramps and come on by, or you can go to thriftandmore.com.

Thriftandmore.com. There's something I I wanted to just ask before we do officially head out. Before the thrift store, you were involved in the hamburger flipping business. Correct. All right. And that hamburger flipping business or the the building is just down the street a little bit. That's correct. What's what was the name of that business? Burger Den.

Burger Den. But it was the first Del Taco in their chain back in the early 60s. Oh wow. And they still use it as their picture history at their three still family-owned places in Barstow.

Okay.

Very nice. Thank you for sharing that. I grew up around the street from a diner when I grew up in in the Detroit suburbs. That's how I learned to be a short-order cook. We had really good burgers. Exactly. But I would imagine those tacos or even your burgers when you were flipping them were unbelievable. The best.

We tried to make them the best. I love it. I love it. Thanks for taking time to chat with us today.

Well, thanks for coming in, Hal. All right. State, you're not going anywhere. You're working. We're going to do a quick close and you and I can have a final chat. All right, folks. We've just been chatting with Ron C. Ellis, he is the the owner here of the Thrifton Moor here in Yermo, California. Ron and his wife Jean, they do live in in Newbury Springs, and they are they live at least a minimum of two and a half acres of land. They have no neighbors. They have peace and quiet. I promise I will not move next door. I'm a quiet guy, anyways. But the the the beauty of the commute between Newbury Springs and Yermo is not too bad. And they spend between there and Newberry Springs, between Newbury Springs and here. There's reasons to visit this area, and that is what's important. Now do go out to the Thrift and More website if you'd like to learn more about Ron, the business, and if again, come on here and pay a visit. You'll find this episode up on our website, outdoor adventureseries.com. It'll also be on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and the video of this episode will be up on our YouTube channel. And of course, you can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcast from. So when you're making that trip out to on Route 66 to Yermo, Newberry Springs, you can listen to the episode. Okay, folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there, have a fantastic day, and we look forward to having you join us on a future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast. Take care now.