North Hollywood just got a new place to shop for a cause — and a new door into the workforce for some of the women who work there.
Fore Women, the 117-year-old Los Angeles nonprofit formerly known as the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles (NCJWLA), celebrated the grand opening of its eighth thrift store earlier this month at 12020 Victory Blvd. The store is part of a broader rebrand: the organization recently retired its old name in favor of Fore Women, with its network of Council Shop thrift stores being renamed Fore Goods, while keeping the same mission of supporting women’s economic independence.
Beyond the racks of secondhand clothing, furniture, and housewares, the North Hollywood location doubles as a training ground. It’s one of the hands-on sites for Fore Women’s Career MOMentum program, which gives participants real retail experience alongside career coaching and job placement support — turning a shopping trip into a pipeline for local employment.
The numbers behind the thrift operation are substantial for a Valley storefront this size. Across its locations, Fore Women’s shops took in more than 94,000 donations last fiscal year, rang up $9.4 million in retail sales, and processed more than 344,000 in-store transactions plus another 23,000 online. The organization says that volume of secondhand goods also kept more than 4 million pounds of reusable items out of landfills.
“While our name is changing, our mission is not,” CEO Marjorie Gilberg said of the rebrand, which preserves the group’s century-plus legacy of serving Los Angeles families while sharpening its focus on women’s financial stability and career growth.
For San Fernando Valley shoppers, the North Hollywood opening adds another resale option to a neighborhood that has increasingly become a go-to for thrifting, alongside the economic ripple effect of a nonprofit retailer that reinvests its proceeds into local job training and support services rather than private profit. It’s also a reminder that “shop local” in LA doesn’t only mean boutiques and restaurants — nonprofit retail is a meaningful piece of the small business and workforce ecosystem too.
Fore Women says more locations are planned as the Fore Goods rebrand continues to roll out across its existing stores.
Source: Fore Women
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