For the past two weekends in Peekskill, clothes have motivated people to stand in line, some actually waiting in their cars overnight, to get to the head of the line to fill a bag with low cost and free clothing.
Mend By Me, a local non profit founded by Johanne Reed, hosts pop-up events at the Elks Lodge where people can receive gently used and sometimes new clothing for free. The July 15-16 event drew 435 people who waited in the hot, humid weather to get inside the building. Reed learned that people were in their cars the night before waiting for the sale to begin. She handed out numbers to people to keep it orderly for entrance.
Reed had a team of six volunteers, including a ‘personal shopper’ for this event. The personal shopper helps people who are struggling with style or who are unable to physically come into the building because of difficulty with the stairs in the front.
Reed works for the clothing company Eileen Fisher and they donated 2,000 pieces of clothing to the July event. She also received clothing from a store that closed. Guests who came to the pop-up sale on Saturday were welcome to take up to 80 pieces of clothing and on Sunday guests could take up to 30 pieces of clothing.
Michael Stark of Stark Vintage held a ‘Bag Sale’ on July 22 that saw some 40 people line up to get into his second floor store on South Street to fill a bag they purchased for $10 with tee shirts. Within 15 minutes he needed to replenish what he was offering for sale. “I estimated I got rid of 300 pounds of clothes in 15 minutes. And tee shirts, which is what people were allowed to put in their bags don’t weigh more than a pound,” said Stark of his second bag sale.
The first bag sale in June was to unload bins of clothing he collected that didn’t make the cut to be in his vintage shop. This second event was to give back to the community that’s supported his business for the past two years. He said he didn’t have any expectations of how many people would come to the first event which he only advertised on Instagram the week before. He was surprised to see 40 people lined up to get in. For last week’s sale, people started lining up outside his shop early in the morning. First in line at 7 a.m. was Yanaira Lora who brought her chair and waited until the 11 a.m opening.
The people who wait on line to get into the bag sale are between 16 and 25 years old, said Stark who doesn’t sell anything online. He’s more interested in being a member of the community where he’s out and about with people. He’s realizing that events he is involved in are a better business model for him than just having a brick and mortar store.
This weekend, on Saturday, July 29, he’s partnering with Peekskill Brewery and Second Nature Skatepark for a Vintage Pop Up starting at 2 p.m.
