How 5 Teen Girls From Daniel Hand Opened Their Own Thrift Shop

NORTH BRANFORD, CT —A new thrift shop has opened in North Branford. But it’s not just any secondhand store.

The Sunshine Thrift Shop is run by five Daniel Hand High School students, with some other friends and family pitching in to help.

Tucked in a Foxon Road plaza, the little shop that could is chockablock with eclectic finds such as hand-painted roller skates, vintage mono vinyl, a funky lamp discovered in an attic, lots of hip clothing and shoes, knick-knacks, games, toys, musical instruments and much more.

When Patch visited, three of the teens were restocking, cleaning and checking Snapchat.

The teens behind the Sunshine Thrift Shop are:

Store manager Amy Narain, 17, a Hand senior, also attends the Educational Center for the Arts for theater and hopes to pursue a career in psychology during college even though she also has a deep passion for theater. She enjoys spending time with her friends, and is on the color guard team with the marching band at Hand.

Megan Kelly, 17, who has lived in Madison since first grade. She is a senior at Hand and hopes to study animal science in college and become a veterinarian. She is a member of the Daniel Hand High School Fencing Team and participates with the color guard team along with the marching band.

Brenna MacCallum, 17, is also a senior at Hand and is also a member of the Daniel Hand High School Fencing Team and participates with the color guard team along with the marching band. She likes to spend her free time with her friends and family, creating valuable memories.

Kaitlyn MacCallum, Brenna's twin sister, 17, is a Hand senior, too, and is a member of the color guard team. She enjoys working on her art and wants to pursue a career in nursing.

Kate Burton, 15, is a Hand sophomore and marching band member. She loves music and spends her free time rehearsing at the School of Rock in Madison on guitar. In the spring and fall seasons, she likes to play softball and loves hanging out with her friends and family.

And then there’s Grace Burton, 13, Kate’s sister and a Sunshine Thrift Shop volunteer. She loves competitive gymnastics and enjoys working at the store with her older sister and friends, and “is excited for when she is old enough to be fully employed.”

How it started. How it's going.

They explained that the idea was born while the five friends were in Amy’s car while she waited for a doctor appointment.

“Amy doesn’t like to go to appointments alone; so, of course, her trusty group accompanied her,” the friends said. “In the car, we were throwing around ideas to make our senior year the best one yet. We wanted to give back to our student community, so we thought of a thrift store. Sunshine Thrift Shop was born, as Amy’s mom always sang to her the song 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine' from a young age to now."

The teens worked and saved in order to open the store. Four of them worked up to 40 hours a week at Dunkin’ Donuts to save up enough money to fund the store.

They each saved $2,000 and invested their own money into the venture, with guidance and support from their families.

Opening a store is a big, time-consuming task. How did they balance school, work, a social life and the store?

“We evenly divide the hours each week between each other, as well as save time to spend quality time with each other,” Narain said. “Some of us have left our job at Dunkin' in order to fully work at the store.”

The shop opened Saturday, but being savvy Zoomers, they marketed it well beforehand on Instagram (gaining more than 2,000 followers in just a couple of weeks) and TikTok (with 141,000 followers).

On TikTok, the group chronicled how Sunshine Thrift Shop went from a friend group’s idea to a brick-and-mortar reality. They found a fixer-upper space, and the work began, all documented on TikTok. Their first video has more than 1.5 million views.

“We are extremely surprised, and we all celebrated hitting 10,000 followers thinking that was it, with a movie night,” they said.

But that wasn't it. Not by a long shot.

“Next morning, we’re at 100k followers, and a million views on our video,” they said. “We are extremely grateful for what has happened and truly thank everyone who has helped us along in the process.”

Oh, and about opening a store in a pandemic

The teens behind Sunshine Thrift said that “since the pandemic restricted a lot of the activities we wanted to do as a friends group over the summer, this shop has given us the opportunity to fully invest ourselves in our friend group, as well as having fun, and creating memories that we are sure will last a lifetime.”

But it’s also “definitely played a role about raising questions about sanitation.”

“We make sure to wash all clothes that are donated, and urge customers to use hand sanitizer when entering the store,” they said.

Sunshine Thrift Shop in the Kelly Plaza, 2027 Foxon Road in North Branford, is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

For more information, or to donate, visit and follow the Sunshine Thrift Shop Instagram page and TikTok.