by Brenda Wintrode
A group of students equipped with a collection of secondhand clothes and a cooperative business model turned the McKeldin steps into a pop-up thrift store Oct. 10.
Inspired by their involvement with the recently disbanded Maryland Food Collective, thrift shop founders and worker-owners Aviah Krupnick, 19, Conor A. James, 22, Arielle Gottlieb, 20, and Emily Fox, 19, chose a clothing business to share a similar business model with as wide an audience as possible, said Krupnick, a philosophy, politics and economics major.
Emily Fox, also a philosophy, politics and economics major, said a clothing Co-op counters the fashion industry’s profit-motivated practice of discarding last season’s trends for the newest fashion and, what she considers, the industry’s unfair labor practices.
“People are not treated as they should be. There’s [no] proper health and safety standards,” Fox said. “A lot of times they’re prevented from unionizing.”
A cooperative business model, according to the Small Business Association’s website, is “a business or organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services.”
The mobile thrift store, called Alternative Exchange, invites community members to turn in clothing and receive half of the item’s resale value as store credit toward future purchases. Most items for sale are $10 or less.
Freshman Audrey Lyu redeemed her white Tommy Hilfiger jacket for five store credits, or the equivalent of $5, after examining the popular brand name choices on the rack. Lyu said she wants to be part of the co-op.
In exchange for their labor, worker-volunteers receive store credit and can earn voting rights after attending three consecutive meetings. The worker-owners said they are still figuring out payment methods for themselves, but they are required to go to all meetings and chip in $50, which will be refunded if they leave the group on good terms.
Senior Jonathan Bramell came to the shop Oct.10 looking for “fresh duds.”
“I mean, twenty-five cents is hard to beat,” said the 21-year-old history major, referring to the items in the exchange’s one bargain basket.
Clothing can be exchanged for credit during pop-up events or arranged through social media. Future pop-up dates will be advertised on Facebook, Instagram and Slack.
Featured photo courtesy of Brenda Wintrode.