Thrifting has develop into a life-style for younger consumers in Eau Claire, however is it about sustainability or simply one other method to purchase extra?
Throughout town of Eau Claire, secondhand shops are seeing extra visitors from youthful consumers in search of reasonably priced trend, classic finds and inventive methods to specific themselves.
Many say thrifting gives a extra intentional solution to store — one which feels higher for his or her wallets and the planet. However as recognition rises, so does this query: Can thrifting keep intentional, or will it develop into simply one other method for folks to buy issues they don’t want?
UW-Eau Claire alum Madeline Nelson has picked up classic T-shirts, purses and even her personal wedding ceremony decor whereas thrifting in Eau Claire.
Story continues under commercial
“It’s so enjoyable to search out one thing completely distinctive,” Nelson stated.
For her, the draw goes past scoring a good deal; it’s in regards to the treasure hunt and the invention. Earlier in life, Nelson stated she wasn’t completely comfy with the thought of sporting another person’s garments, however that mindset shifted as she received older.
Now, she stated she sees thrifting as a solution to store extra consciously whereas staying on a price range and discovering one-of-a-kind items she will’t get anyplace else.
Wanting to face out is an element of what attracts one other younger shopper, UW-Eau Claire alum Ellie Ulbricht, to thrifting.
“It’s a enjoyable solution to be artistic and never seem like everybody else,” Ulbricht stated.
She stated that thrifting helps folks discover their private fashion with out spending a lot, particularly as outdated developments cycle again, and she or he loves how a lot selection thrift shops provide.
Ulbricht’s expertise displays a nationwide development. Throughout the nation, secondhand purchasing is changing into a common half of how folks store, particularly for younger adults targeted on saving cash, exhibiting their fashion and making sustainable choices.
According to ThredUp’s 2024 Resale Report, america’ secondhand attire market is predicted to hit $73 billion by 2028, pushed largely by Gen Z and millennials. The shift towards secondhand purchasing is one thing Eau Claire’s thrift retailer managers have observed up shut.
“Inside the previous few months, we’ve positively observed a rise in youthful consumers coming in,” Chelsea Tate, retailer supervisor at AbleLight Thrift Shop, stated. “They arrive in to take a look at our attire extra than the rest, and our jewellery.”
Jill Henselin, director of retail operations at Goodwill of North Central Wisconsin, stated she has additionally seen extra younger folks turning to secondhand purchasing — many drawn by sustainability or the fun of the discover.
“As folks take into consideration the best way to shield the setting and preserve trash out of the landfill, that sustainable shopper actually now understands the worth of thrifting,” Henselin stated.
Henselin stated that others are drawn to Goodwill’s mission, which is to assist folks achieve job abilities and overcome obstacles to employment.
Different Eau Claire thrift shops emphasize group impression as properly, in response to Emily Brantner, supervisor at Hope Gospel Mission Bargain Center.
“We’re funding a mission to assist folks develop and flourish,” Brantner stated.
The shop gives reasonably priced items together with job coaching and restoration assist, serving to people construct sensible abilities and rebuild their lives.
At AbleLight Thrift Store, Chelsea Tate stated the main focus is on inclusivity. The shop gives employment and housing assist for people with mental and developmental disabilities.
“Our purpose is to offer a place the place folks really feel valued and supported, irrespective of why they’re right here,” Tate stated.
Every retailer could have a totally different mission, however all of them serve the group in significant methods, offering job coaching, assist providers and reasonably priced items to the group. Whether or not consumers notice it or not, shopping for secondhand helps fund that work and is a extra sustainable solution to store.
“Secondhand is the way in which to go,” Tate stated. “I believe thrifting is the new Goal.”
Whereas thrifting helps preserve garments out of landfills, sustainability specialists emphasize that it’s solely half of the answer to trend’s environmental toll.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, each second, the equal of a rubbish truck full of garments is burned or buried in a landfill — a reminder of simply how a lot waste the style business creates.
Even thrifting can do hurt if it turns into a behavior of shopping for an excessive amount of, too usually.
“Overconsumption and overdemand are the unique causes of fast fashion, and so they don’t go away simply since you begin purchasing secondhand,” stated a report from Fashinnovation. “It merely adjustments kind.”
The rise of thrift hauls and resale apps has made it simpler than ever to purchase low cost, stylish garments in massive portions, generally with out actual intention or want. When donations overwhelm shops, many items end up in landfills or shipped abroad the place they create new issues for different much less privileged communities.
However with more awareness and balance, consumers can shift that cycle by asking whether or not they want one thing, how lengthy they’ll preserve it and the place it’d find yourself subsequent.
That’s one thing Mike Shoultz, proprietor of EC Vintage, stated he thinks about usually.
“Clothes is one of the most wasteful industries,” he stated.
At EC Classic, Shoultz stated he sources stock from a combine of thrift outlets, storage gross sales and different secondhand retailers — locations the place good items usually get neglected. Along with EC Classic’s racks of curated and high-quality classic objects, a method his retailer stands out is by rescuing outdated, unused clean crewnecks and shirts that might seemingly be thrown away.
“They’re in every single place, and a few of them are in actually good situation,” Shoultz stated.
By printing new designs on them in small batches, he provides these forgotten items a second life.
This fall, native sustainability advocate Eclypse Armstrong is working to broaden Eau Claire’s reuse efforts with a plan for a textile reclamation heart. Her imaginative and prescient contains accumulating clothes, cloth and different donations, then sorting, upcycling and ethically recycling them.
Upcycled items can be resold to assist the native economic system, whereas leftover supplies can be repurposed regionally as a substitute of being despatched abroad.
“It could be a place for the group to donate responsibly and for creators to search out supplies they will flip into one thing new,” Armstrong stated.
To kick off the work, she’s launching a five-week volunteer analysis cohort in September. UW-Eau Claire college students can take part for service-learning credit score. They may work in groups to discover key questions round sustainability, infrastructure and innovation.
College students excited by getting concerned can join the cohort by the UW-Eau Claire Service Learning Center.
“On the finish of the cohort, we’ll herald audio system from the business and current our findings to the group,” Armstrong stated. “It’s a solution to begin constructing one thing collectively from the bottom up.”
Wanting forward, her long-term purpose is to carry the textile heart to life by collaborating throughout native universities and departments, from trend and design college students at UW-Stout to engineers and enterprise college students at Chippewa Valley Technical Faculty and UW-Eau Claire.
“We have already got the whole lot we want right here; now it’s about bringing it collectively,” Armstrong stated.
Whereas native leaders are pondering huge, Nelson stated she believes it nonetheless comes right down to particular person on a regular basis decisions. Thrifting may be reasonably priced, artistic and sustainable, however provided that folks additionally resist the urge to overconsume.
Nelson stated that steadiness is what makes secondhand purchasing really feel significant — it’s what retains it from changing into simply one other development and provides it the ability to create actual, lasting change.
Editor’s be aware: This story was first written for sophistication CJ 495: Impartial Examine, taught by Professor Kris Knutson within the spring of 2025.