NATCHEZ — Amidst racks of clothes and a television set the size of a Volkswagen, shoppers perused the aisles of the newly relocated Salvation Army Friday.

But their latest move is more like a homecoming than a relocation.

After two and a half years, the Salvation Army reopened its doors at their North Canal Street location earlier this week.

The group had previously been operating from the Belmont Shopping Center on U.S. 61 South.

The reason for both moves was simple — money.

“We thought we could make more if we moved out there,” Trahern said. “But things out there were not as good as we expected.”

So four months ago the Salvation Army decided to re-relocate back to Canal Street.

“Hopefully we can do better out here,” she said.

But moving back to their previous location was not as simple as moving the merchandise and hanging the open sign.

The Canal Street property needed an extensive cleaning before it could be reused.

“We had to do a good bit of work out here,” she said.

Foliage had become so dense on the property that heavy equipment was needed to remove much of it.

To make matters even worse, while the Belmont location was closed, people continued to leave donations there.

“That turned into quite a mess,” Trahern said.

Trahern said many of the donations sat exposed to the weather for too long and had to be thrown away.

For Trahern, throwing away donations was not easy.

“Obviously that’s not what we try to do here,” she said.

Someone even left a piano that ended up broken; it also had to be thrown away.

But on Monday, after an extensive cleaning, the Salvation Army was reopened.

“So far business is good,” Trahern said.

Trahern attributes the brisk pace to the close proximity between the shop and the neighborhoods that surround it.

“People from the community can just walk over,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even leave this part of town.”

And all those new shoppers equal dollar signs for the Salvation Army.

And the more money they make, the more they can invest in the community.

Trahern said the profits from the store go directly to running the Salvation Army’s social service office.

Needy residents can get food, clothing and even assistance paying bills from the social service office.

“The better we do here (in the store), the better we can stock the office,” she said.

Trahern said the office should be open in one week.