Expanding to meet the thrifting needs of Greater Green Bay

Rich Palzewic

Staff

February 23, 2026

GREEN BAY – Within the next year – “hopefully” – American Valor Thrift & Vintage, currently located at 2530 Lineville Road in Suamico, will take up residence in a trio of former Family Video stores.

Russell Azban, co-owner/operations manager, said the new locations – Military Avenue in Green Bay, Cardinal Lane in Howard and Webster Avenue in De Pere – will help spread American Valor’s mission.

“American Valor is a veteran-owned thrift store dedicated to supporting veterans and our community,” he said. “Your donations help veteran homes, veteran families and local families – not corporations.”

Azban said American Valor also stands out from other thrift stores by keeping vintage and collectible items off online marketplaces.

“[Other stores] want to make more money by putting those items online,” he said. “No matter how valuable we think a vintage item is, we still don’t put it online. American Valor is a store for the community, so we want to give back to the community.”

Azban said in his opinion, a thrift store should be just that – a thrift store.

“Yes, things are somewhat organized inside our store, but the idea of thrifting is to dig and find,” he said. “In my opinion, that’s the idea of a thrift store. We have a little bit of everything, but sometimes, you have to dig for it.”

Azban said everything at American Valor is also very affordable.

“About 99% of what you’ll find in here is less than $10,” he said. “We don’t want to profit from what people donate to us. We just want to keep the lights on and pay our bills and the few employees we have.”

Azban said they work with various organizations in the area to do what they can to help those in need.

“Our mission is to help the community, but we couldn’t do it without the support of the community,” he said.

Azban said those downsizing or dealing with leftover estate and rummage sale items can bring them to American Valor.

“We also have a big truck to use for picking up donations,” he said. “People don’t even have to physically come to our location – we can come to them.”

Azban said American Valor’s selection includes shoes, clothing, children’s books, toys, games, purses, home decor and more.

Needing more room

When they first opened the American Valor Lineville location last May, Azban – who has a military background – said the goal was to get “their feet wet” with the store while exploring future locations to expand their mission.

“With the [Lineville] location, it’s basically [serving] as a testing store – we are still learning how to run things,” he said.

Expansion, Azban said, will start with the Military Avenue spot.

“That will be next to the Domino’s Pizza near the intersection of Military and Bond Street,” he said. “We are hoping that one comes to fruition in the next three or four months.”

Azban said the management structure for upcoming American Valor locations is an extension of the organization’s veteran-focused mission.

A portion of each store’s profits, he said, will go to a local veteran family in need, with those families taking an active role in running the stores to help improve their lives.

“The idea is that the families [receiving a percentage of the profit] will run the stores,” he said.

Over their first nine months, Azban said it became clear that upcoming locations will require a drive-thru or covered drop-off area.

“With a lot of people dropping off their donations, the weather isn’t always so great,” he said. “We have rain and snow in Wisconsin. With our [donation] carts being outside [at our Lineville location], some of the donated stuff in the past has gotten wet. Also, if it’s raining or snowing outside, many people don’t even want to get out of their cars in that type of weather. Some sort of drive-thru is a necessity.”

Incorporating a drive-thru for donations, however, Azban said, means the opening process for new locations will take a bit longer.

“We need a license, a construction permit, etc.,” he said. “Once we get the Military location all set up and running, it will probably be another six months to get another up and running.”

With the expansion into three former Family Video locations, Azban said the future of the Suamico store is uncertain. 

“We will have to see if the Suamico location remains,” he said.

Once all new locations are up and running, Azban said “the eventual goal is to expand further into Wisconsin.”

“We want to grow, but we don’t want to get too big where we need a CEO and other high-ranking positions,” he said. “We want the profits to go back into the community.”

American Valor’s hours are 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

For more information on American Valor Thrift & Vintage, visit its Facebook page.