The exterior of Out of the Closet Thrift Store, which resides in the Short North district in Columbus, OH, on Monday, November 10, 2025. Credit: Grayson Newbourn | Managing Editor Arts & Life
From buying a new outfit to furnishing a living room, thrift stores have always been crucial in helping people live comfortably and affordably.
But, some go above and beyond in satisfying the customer — one store in particular even offers free and accessible healthcare for community members.
Out of the Closet, located at 1230 N. High St., must be succeeding in customer satisfaction, as for The Lantern’s 2025 Best of OSU special edition, the Ohio State community named it as the best secondhand thrift store in the area with 389 votes.
“It’s a place that is meant for people, whoever you are, to be able to come in and be able to experiment — [to] see what kind of clothes you find that make you feel different, beautiful, weird [or] fun,” Ryan Roman, store manager of Out of the Closet, said.
Within the large, partially-cylindrical building lies an assortment of carefully curated products, community resources, event flyers and a staff dedicated to helping people in need, both near and far.
Mannequins line the storefront displays, some of which don holiday apparel — one wears a festive crewneck reading “Santa is Daddy,” the sort of tongue-in-cheek fashion the store often carries, alongside casual and professional clothing, with another rocking a halloween mask and a full Santa costume.
Behind the counter, employee art lines the walls as a framed photo of Dolly Parton keeps an eye out for shoplifters.
Out of the Closet was founded in 1990 to help raise funds and awareness for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to HIV/AIDS healthcare, advocacy and resources, according to their website.
Jonathan Kreuyer is the general manager for Out of the Closet, overseeing all 25 store locations across seven states. Kreuyer said for the thrift section of the store, the organization prioritizes affordable pricing, especially in the current economy.
“People can’t afford to go to regular retail stores, so we are a place where people can come and shop items at a good, reasonable price,” Kreuyer said. “It’s also having clothing recycled back into the community, instead of into the landfills.”
Roman agreed; he said the organization is continuing to expand and spread their mission.
“We’re always going to try and push to be open in other places and push further,” Roman said. “It’s important, now more than ever, to be out there and expressing ourselves, and being able to have stuff that’s affordable, especially when everything feels like it is incredibly unaffordable.”
Roman said the store not only offers affordable selections of furniture, clothing, secondhand accessories and home goods, but also a healthcare and wellness center, a pharmacy and free STD and STI testing. Better yet, he said for every dollar the store makes, 96 cents goes back toward the AHF.
A “FREE HIV TESTING” sign hangs inside Out of the Closet Thrift Store in the Short North district in Columbus, OH, on Monday, November 10, 2025. The store offers free healthcare services and has a full-service pharmacy inside for patrons. Credit: Grayson Newbourn | Managing Editor Arts & Life
Kreuyer said by being a combined thrift store and wellness center, the store is able to offer a safe space for people who may require healthcare, but avoid pursuing it due to social stigmas.
“It’s also just a place where people can come into that, they want to get tested but won’t necessarily go to a building that’s just a free standing building that says ‘HIV care’ or ‘Free HIV testing,’ because then everyone knows what you’re going in for,” Kreuyer said. “But when you come to Out of the Closet, people don’t really know what you’re doing.”
As for what healthcare services the store actually offers, Kreuyer said it’s quite the comprehensive list.
“It’s what we call [an] all-in-one service,” Kreuyer said. “We have testing, so people can come into our sites and get tested for HIV. If they’re positive, we link them directly into care … We have what is called a wellness center, where they come in and get their checks for syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV. All of those services are free, and we also offer PrEP – PrEP is a medication that people can take so HIV doesn’t come in, and that is very effective.”
Kreuyer said Out of the Closet chooses where to open stores based on the needs of the local community.
“What we do is we go to locations where there are not [accessible healthcare] services,” Kreuyer said. “So if a city has services available for them, then we feel that those needs are being met — so we go to locations where it’s on the underserved.”
Kreuyer said the organization is focused on giving back to the community, not raising profit. In addition to their other services, he said they also provide support to people moving into a new place after struggling to find housing.
“I know that we’re not making someone rich, we’re not making our CEO rich — we’re out here helping the community, that’s what we do,” Kreuyer said. “I take care of a lot of people that have been on the streets, been homeless, and now they finally get their apartment. We support them through our voucher program, where they’ll come in and we’ll give them a voucher for $150 or $200 and they can come in and get a couch, table lamp, a coffee maker — [they can] get things for their apartment to set up and get started.”
Kreuyer said the store also offers 15% off all purchases for students who provide their BucklD, adding that a lot of students may not know about the discount or simply overlook it.
Roman said as an older member of the LGBTQ+ community, working for Out of the Closet has been a rewarding experience.
“It’s amazing to be part of something that helps on such a global scale,” Roman said. “I don’t like thinking about what happens to people who don’t get to get tested, who don’t get the help that they need because they have HIV and they’re poor. It’s an honor and it’s a privilege to be able to work with this organization — I don’t take it lightly.”
At the end of the day, Roman said the staff at Out of the Closet are there to help customers and strive to create a safe space for people to shop without social or financial stress.
“I think what we do is an amazing thing, and I love helping out customers to find fun outfits and to find the sofa or love seat that they need, or to just help them with anything,” Roman said. “It’s a great company, and Out of the Closet is definitely the best place for anybody to go find some easy clothes that are not going to break your bank.”
