Many shoppers enjoy thrift stores. Often, thrift stores offer vintage clothing, furniture, and accessories that you can not get inside of a normal store. If you run a thrift store, you also know that many people who want to get rid of or trade in their older, gently used items will drop off merchandise at your store for you to put up for sale. If you find that your inventory is expanding and you need to move your store to a bigger space, you might be wondering how you'll safely transport all of your merchandise. Here are three steps to carefully moving a thrift store to keep the merchandise safe. 

Rent the largest box truck

When you are moving your thrift store, you want to preserve everything as best as you can. This means stacking things carefully and not putting too much merchandise on top of one another, as this increases the chance of damage. Instead of having to stack things on top of each other, rent the longest box truck possible. This will allow you to get as much as possible moved in one trip and keep everything stacked low instead of piled high. 

Carry the signs in the front of the truck

If your thrift store has any signs that you hang above the racks or on the walls of the store, you should place these in the front of the truck. As soon as you arrive to the store during the first trip, you should hang up the signs first. This will make it easier to set up the shelves, racks, and check out materials in the appropriate places. Being able to settle everything in the proper spot as it comes into the store will mean less downtime for your store sales. Be sure to also keep a ladder accessible in the very back of the truck so that you can hang up the signs without any issues. 

Keep the racks as is

Most of the time at the new place will be spent fixing up racks and taking items out of boxes to put on display. If you have clothing that is already on racks, you should place plastic over the rack and load it onto the truck as is. This will allow you and your employees to relocate the racks to your new space and save time by not having to rearrange the clothing on the correct racks. 

For more moving tips and services, talk to a company like Checkmate Moving & Storage.