Our Story

Guardian Angel Thrift Inc. is a nonprofit organization supporting Alzheimer’s Research, born from an idea of how to raise money for research in order to help find a cure for this disease. Our founder, Laura Gaddis, saw her mother suffer with Alzheimer’s for 12 years. Nearing the end of her mother’s life, she woke one morning with a plan she quickly put on paper — a non profit thrift store funding Alzheimer’s research.

She then opened a small 1,400 sq. ft. store in Fuquay-Varina, NC. With the help of her daughter Shari, her sister Martha, and husband Dave, Guardian Angel Thrift Inc. grew into a large 26,000 sq. ft. store in 4 years. As of 2022, we have four branches across North Carolina. Our main location remains to be in Fuquay-Varina, along with Little Angel Children’s Thrift and Guardian Angel Thrift’s Last Chance Outlet. Our fourth location is in Apex, NC.

Thanks to our public support, we have been able to contribute $3,000,000.00 for Alzheimer’s Research in the state of North Carolina.  All of our profits after operational expenses go to Alzheimer’s Research.