Characters of the Village – How Liz Wolff Turned Passion and Purpose into a Village Staple

By Joy and Brian Pape

Dr. Jason Baker, a friend, colleague, endocrinologist, and Co-Founder, Medical Advisor, and Board Chair of Diabetes Empowerment International, an organization empowering people to thrive while living with diabetes, introduced us to Liz Wolff of the Cure Thrift Shop. That was about the time we moved to the Village in 2009.

Liz has lived in the Village since 2008, when she opened Cure Thrift Shop at 111 East 12th Street. As a fourth-generation garage sale, thrift shopper, and dumpster-diving New Yorker, Liz combined her passion for arts and antiques with her personal mission to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes (as noted in Cure Thrift Shop’s website),

Liz, now 40 and a Villager at heart, grew up in Rockaway, Queens, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (known to some as juvenile diabetes) when she was 11 years old. She went with her mother to garage sales every weekend but she didn’t really enjoy it. She moved to Manhattan’s upper East Side to go to Hunter College to be an actress. Once she had her own apartment, she would walk around at night and find cast-offs on the sidewalks. “I ended up decorating my entire apartment with everything I found….and realized how much I loved doing it,” Liz explained.

“In the film and media studies program, I had classes in set design. I quickly realized this was what I wanted to do,” she continued. “I had this great professor who connected me with a set designer of an off-Broadway show. It was great to touch items, put them on a stage and make it all happen.”

While at Hunter, Liz began selling on eBay and did very well. Then she stopped going to school and supported herself by selling stuff. She knew she wanted to open her own business so she worked at another store to learn the ropes. “At age 23, I incorporated and my parents took out a mortgage on their house to give me a loan. After a year of planning, we opened the store on 12th street during the recession in 2008,” she said.

Why did you choose the Village?

I got married at 21 when my husband was in med school at NYU and we were living in Murray Hill. My broker took us to an old antique store on 12th Street. There were cats running around, it was piled with chairs, and we couldn’t even see the floor! My dad was convinced that this was the spot for my store and said, “Take it.” The store was my first intro to the Village and my husband and I soon moved to the Village as well. Right now we’ve living on 17th and 5th Avenue, but we want to move back to the Village. That’s where I need to be.

What was it like for you during the pandemic?

We had just had our best year and then suddenly we had to shut down. We had bills to pay, it was panic time. I went back to my roots on eBay, selling from my apartment, with my son who was in 2nd grade but at home. Though hardly selling anything, I had to keep busy. We reopened the first day we were allowed. Most of my staff came back, rallied, and we were busy from day one.

What’s your least favorite thing about your job?

People who leave negative reviews because they are upset with our prices. Even though the items are fairly priced, they think thrift means cheap. They don’t stop and think about the business owner and the people who work there. We pour our hearts into this store, then it’s so easy for people to be anonymous behind their phones and computers and leave negative reviews that affect our public ratings. The store is very personal to me.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

Amy Sedaris has been a donor and customer for years. We connected and became friends 2 1/2 years ago and did fund-raising events together. Amy feels very connected here because she lives in the Village and wants to promote this neighborhood place. (Amy has a collection posted on curethriftshop.com.) This year we were in Vogue and in People. It took 16 years but that’s a proud thing for me.

Cure Thrift is a registered 501-c3 organization and all donations are 100% tax-deductible. All proceeds from Cure Thrift benefit various type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organizations. 91 Third Avenue. curethriftshop.com