Men’s clothing is now next to the dressing rooms, dishes are in the same area as table linens, and colorful necklaces — an impulse buy for some — are displayed on a large board conveniently close to the cash register.

These may seem like small changes. But the makeover at Granny’s Attic — its first in decades, says past board president Jeannine Emery — is part of a larger effort to make the bustling thrift shop easier for its customers to navigate and safer and more comfortable for its employees and volunteers.

The loading dock, for instance, is now enclosed, protecting workers from the elements. “It’s a very drafty and cold place in the winter. So a lot of the changes were really done to help employees,” Emery said.

What’s more, the often-crowded store now has a better flow, making it easier for everyone, including those in wheelchairs, to get around, said Janet Kime, Granny’s current board president.

The $50,000 makeover took place during Granny’s annual three-week closure last month. When it reopened, Kime said, two customers in wheelchairs thanked the staff. “There’s a lot more space in the store now,” she said.

The remodel was spearheaded by Tim Johnson, Granny’s new manager who has a background in the retail and wholesale sector. He used to work for an organic food processor in Eastern Washington and was in charge of procuring the processing plant, refurbishing it and running it, he said.

Johnson, 44, became Granny’s manager last October, the first new manager in several years at the nonprofit thrift store. Already, according to both Kime and Emery, he’s brought fresh energy to the shop, as well as an eye for marketing and a passion for the mission.

“He has a really great vision,” Emery said. “He has commitment. He has compassion and passion. And he has really molded a team together there between volunteers and staff.”

Relatively new to the Island (he’s been here about two years), Emery called Johnson “one of those Vashon treasures.”

Mary Jo Barrentine, a volunteer who has worked at Granny’s more than 30 years, agreed. “He’s absolutely fantastic,” she said.

Johnson, who also chairs the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, said he couldn’t be happier with his new post, a job he got after a stint of unemployment. Granny’s is a social hub on Vashon, he noted, with a mission that speaks to him and a pace that matches his own intensity.

“As someone who dove into Vashon with both feet, I love being in the midst of the bustle,” he said.

During a recent work day, he walked through the store’s two buildings, pointing out changes and explaining his thinking behind them. In an effort to create more space, Johnson got rid of the circle racks that held clothes in the main building and put the walls to greater use to hold and display items. He tried to create better efficiencies and made other changes that enhance some items’ visibility; fabric, for instance, is now on hangers instead of in piles.

“The magazines are now in racks,” he noted as he wended his way through the shop’s warren of rooms, “more like a real store.”

At the same time, Johnson said, he and others at Granny’s were careful in their planning to ensure the store didn’t lose its funky feel, part of what makes the place beloved to many Islanders.

“We didn’t want a chain retail look,” he said. “Granny’s has character. We’re not trying to drive that out.”

The store’s retail sales, even in the midst of a lingering recession, continue to climb, he said, evidence of the place Granny’s holds in the community. In 2010, it grossed $558,000 and netted around $175,000; last year, those numbers were slightly higher — with a gross of $620,000 and net revenues of $209,000.

The shop — created more than 30 years ago to support a medical clinic on the Island — has distributed around $200,000 in grants the last two years to health-related causes, with about half of those gifts going to the Vashon Health Center, Johnson said.

It was a tough decision to spend $50,000 on a remodel, he said. “We’re keenly aware of all the need on the Island,” he said.

But working conditions are now better and safer, he said. And he believes sales will only improve if items are easier to find and donations are easier to sort. Opening day sales — after the shop’s three-week closure last month — reached around $10,000, a new milestone, he said.

Sales clerk Shelley Whannell stood behind the cash register as Johnson talked and couldn’t help but chime in.

“I love it,” she said of the changes. “It all just makes more sense.”