Arc Thrift Stores
Legal name: Arc Thrift Stores Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 840515942
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Lakewood, CO, United States
- Phone
- 303.238.5263 / 1.800.283.2721
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Developmentally Disabled Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $139,646,133
- Expenses
- $141,391,827
- Assets
- $173,868,635
- Liabilities
- $117,881,889
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
22 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LLOYD LEWIS SEE SCH J PRT II (President & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- LLOYD LEWIS SEE SCH J PRT II (President & CEO): $560,996 total reported compensation
- ERICK MARTINEZ (SENIOR VP OF STORES): $248,732 total reported compensation
- Kevin Mann (CFO): $215,435 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
ADVOCACY. INCLUSION. ACCEPTANCE. For over 50 years, arc Thrift Stores has been an integral part of communities, offering more than just affordable shopping. From the humble beginnings of our first store in Colorado in 1968, to our multiple retail locations today, we are committed to living and breathing our mission: enhancing the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As one of the nation’s largest employers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we believe in the power of employment to foster independence and fulfillment. By providing enriching job opportunities and educational programming, we empower people with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities to thrive and live their best lives. Every year, our programs positively impact thousands of individuals and their families.
What it reported doing in 2024
The association serves as a fund raising organization for various nonprofit organizations (all 501(c)(3) organizations), which sponsor programs for developmentally disabled citizens. The association distributes its thrift store profits to associations on a monthly basis. Program service expenses include the cost of operating the thrift stores.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95.9%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 94%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.3%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 95.9% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $132.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $561K · 22 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 33 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule M noncash within contributions did not reconcile in the filed values.