By Care Lucas
LAST summer, Jill and Dan Johnson of Port Dover opened pd thrifts at 237 Main St.
A full-time science teacher by trade, Ms. Johnson didn’t always plan to become a business owner. Her mother once owned Cranberry Lane, a women’s fashion and garden store in Port Rowan, but aside from helping there, she had little experience with retail. But things changed after her family endured a difficult loss.
“I started thrifting after our son passed away. And I don’t know why really, but it was just kind of calming to me,” Ms. Johnson said. “I think it’s just a unique way to try something new, whether it’s fashion or home décor or a hobby or anything like that. It’s an inexpensive way to take a risk in that area. And I started liking that risk.”
The Johnsons’ eight-year-old son, Luke, passed away in 2024 while receiving palliative care. Ms. Johnson said that during her first semester back at school as a teacher after his passing, she wore a new thrifted outfit every day.
Her new passion for thrifting led her to think about opening a thrift store in Port Dover. She started researching start-up costs and communicating with thrift store managers. At first, she said, she wasn’t sure her vision would come to fruition because storefronts in the area can be costly. But last June, she found a space.
Her husband, Mr. Johnson, who cycled from Vancouver to Port Dover this past summer to raise money for Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice in Luke’s memory, suggested the thrift shop raise money for the hospice as well. The couple hopes pd thrifts can help fund the hospice’s operational costs.
The hospice organization’s executive director, Andrea Binkle, told Ms. Johnson that it’s common for hospices to partner with thrift stores.
“It’s a very reciprocal relationship when a loved one goes into palliative care [at] a hospice facility,” Ms. Johnson said. “Lots of times, the family members are left with the sometimes stressful, overwhelming ordeal of going through their personal items. What a thrift store allows is for them to donate those items to a store that will sell [them] and [give] the money back to the hospice.”
Once the Johnsons found a location for their thrift store, they started accepting donations. Within a month, they had collected enough inventory to fill the store and their storage area. They spent August pricing items and training volunteers before opening on August 29.
The shop is run by 70 volunteers working four-hour shifts. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “There are usually six volunteers per day—three on each shift,” Ms. Johnson said.
She mentioned that the volunteers feel like a family. Over the holidays, they held a gathering together. She said she is overwhelmed by the community support.
Some customers come to pd thrifts every day to see what’s new. There’s high turnover in inventory, but also a lot of quality donations, Ms. Johnson said. She said it’s clear that the community is very supportive of a hospice, a cause near and dear to her family.
In 2024, the whole Johnson family spent a month living at Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford. “Before that I was Luke’s mom, doctor, nurse… the way that we were able to be together as a family in that way was just—it was unbelievable,” Ms. Johnson said. “I don’t know how you could ever describe losing a child as something beautiful, but there were so many beautiful moments there.”
For her, pd thrifts has provided a space to explore her love of fashion and thrifted finds. She hopes it will encourage expression. But it’s also a place for connection, support, and community. It’s a place to offer quality, affordable items, volunteer opportunities, and ongoing support for the hospice.
Ms. Johnson said operating the shop feels like her way of giving back to the community.
“The Port Dover community 100 per cent supported our family when we could do nothing to support [the] community. All we could do was support our family and our son,” she said. “But they supported us. And now we can support our community.”
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Originally published February 18, 2026
