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Welcome
What is Treasure City Thrift?
At Treasure City, we believe that thrift stores by definition should be thrifty. So we are. By selling items in our store at lower prices than other local retail and thrift shops, we are affordable to all, opening our doors to a truly diverse set of folks. We are a constantly evolving hybrid of many things: Affordable Thrift Store, Junk & Curio Bazaar, Community & Events space, Infoshop, Non-Profit Business, Reuse Center, Really Really Free Market, 25c Sidewalk Sale, and an experiment in Alternative Economics. We also provide space for one of the Yellow Bike Project's Community Bike Shops and the mural on the side of our building, Mount Blackmore, was painted by local teens. You can read the TC mission statement here.
The store is volunteer-run and collectively organized. There are no bosses here! We are supported by donations of time (we love meeting new people) and goods (we always need more furniture, books and men's clothing) from the Austin community. We will pickup large donations on request or after yard/estate sales and house clearances. From the items you donate, we try to reuse and resell as much as possible, and to further divert waste from the landfill, we have a comprehensive recycling program developed with Ecology Action. We hope this project will be an inspiration and model for other groups to replicate, so we have started to document our history. We welcome your questions and comments.
"Possibly the best thrift store/social movement of the century... holding the torch for an Austin that is not so much "weird" as "freakish," in a good and not particularly mass-marketable way." - Austin Chronicle
HOW WE BUILD COMMUNITY - SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY
We started this project in 2006 to raise money and material support for small, local grassroots community groups and projects that traditionally have difficulty with funding. Our main financial and material beneficiary is the Inside Books Project, which sends 18,000 free books a year to Texas prisoners. If you are a group that meets these criteria and would like financial, material or promotional support from us or to use the space for events, contact us. You can also read more about the concept of Mutual Aid here.
As a collective, we also believe that the struggles for social justice are not separate, but in fact all linked together in a broader struggle for liberation - an injustice against one is an injustice against all. By networking and supporting diverse groups and people, regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, we all become stronger. For that reason, our space is available for community use outside of business hours. Learn more about using our space. We also have window space for groups we support to promote their events and free blank t-shirts (and other clothing) for screen printing.
November Newsletter
What’s Happening at Treasure City Thrift:
HALLOWEEN and DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
We’ve got all kinds of masks, wigs, costumes and clothes left to choose from, come see us Friday and Saturday for all your costume party needs.
FRIDAY NIGHTS
We'll continue to be open till 9pm, and will keep you posted on special events. If you're a band or DJ that would like to play for the 6-9 yellowbike shop, or if you'd like to teach any kind of friday night workshop in our space, please email cory@treasurecitythrift.org.
11/14 GRAND JURY RESISTANCE GALA
Fancy clothes. Fancy music. Fancy (delicious Ethiopian) food. Chandeliers and tablecloths even. Who knew paying the lawyers could be this much fun? Mark your calendars for November 14th and come out to support the Texas activists who’ve been targeted by continued police harassment for expressing their first amendment rights at the RNC protests. More info about the case and the benefit party will be on our website soon, and we’ll be selling tickets at store starting at the end of next week. Best of all, your ticket entitles you to a 50% discount on formal wear at all month long.
11/28 FREE KNITTING AND CROCHET WORKSHOP
Skillshare Austin presents a free workshop in both beginning and intermediate knitting, as well as basic crochet. Bring supplies if you’ve got them, or use ours to pick up some new skills.
BLANKET DRIVE DROP-OFF
We’re partnering with Positivity for Purpose to serve as a drop off point for their fall blanket drive. The drive is part of P4P’s annual event called “There is H.O.P.E. in Hip Hop (Helping Our People Elevate)”. We’re excited to be working with P4P and encourage you to check out the event and the organization at www.1205Productions.com/positivity4purpose.html
SEWING SALE
We’ve just unpacked a donation of about a hundred sewing patterns. For the first week in November, they’ll be on sale for only a quarter each! We also have two sewing machines, a sewing table, several ironing boards, and lots of miscellaneous sewing supplies in stock right now, so it’s a great time to get settled in for fall with a crafty project.
SUMMER SALE
Even though there are plenty of shorts and tank top weather days left this year, we need to clear them out to make space on the racks for the fall and winter clothes. Tank tops are already on sale for $1; shorts will be a dollar too for the whole month of November.
EVERYTHING ELSE
We’ve got it, you know: everything else you could possibly want. Spend your money at Treasure City, and 100% of it stays in your community. Spend it anywhere else? Who knows.
And as always, we’d love to talk to you about volunteering, holding your event at Treasure City, supporting your grassroots organization, or anything else. Stop by and see us...
xo,
the treasure city collective
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Positivity for Purpose Blanket Drive
positivity for purpose blanket drive
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2 years in Business: a Retrospective
Our New Store Front (east)
Our Store Front circa August, 2007
NAACP Building Fire Next Door
Our New Store Front (west)
-----> This October, we will be celebrating our 2nd year in business as a radical thrift store. In summarizing this time (which seems longer than 2 years!), I'd say that we as a collective have faced and met many challenges - 4 fires, one of which destroyed the front of our building and one which destroyed neighboring buildings - and received great support from the neighborhood/local communities.
Our initial mission was to give financial support to 2 or 3 radical projects in town that were always underfunded. Instead we have given material support to over 30 local organizations, and also to hundreds of individuals through the Really Really Free Market in Chestnut Park. Since January of 2007, we have provided space for the Yellow Bike Project to run a neighborhood community bike shop and support an after school program at Kealing Middle School. The store also hosts regular free events such as skill shares, movies, fashion shows, music, and helped to established the Really Really Free Market.
And during this whole time we have managed to stay the most affordable thrift store in Austin...
Footnote: the East 12th and Chicon area is still over-shadowed by historic and deliberate neglect from the city, police and slumlords, exploitation by speculators/developers and a lack of basic services, such as a grocery store or bank. Sadly most visitors to the area see drugs as the problem, rather than a symptom of this neglect.
But there is a new positive feeling around that isn't due to an influx of boutique stores, condos or increased police harassment. The solutions for this area run deeper than simple law enforcement - they are all long-term (i.e. longer than a political term) and require your participation. Rebuilding community ourselves is a damn good place to start.
Links:
Volunteer at Treasure City
Really Really Free Market
25c Sidewalk Sales
Yellow Bike Project, Treasure City Shop
Inside Books (books to prison project)
Skillshare Austin at Treasure City
Groups We Support
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Fashion Show Friday Oct 10th
fs-08
The annual Recycled Fashion Show was created by Treasure City as a way to promote the creative reuse of old materials.
Local clothing and accessory designers have been encouraged to hunt for materials and inspiration at Treasure City for their collections . Participating designers were given bags to fill up with items from the store for free in exchange for putting at least one piece from their collections in a silent auction after the fashion show.
The fashion show is free and will be preceded by pre-show performances, including dances by Texas Roller Derby jeerleaders The Bomb Squad and DJ BULLET.
The show is followed immediately by an after party benefit at the Victory Grill (1104 E. 11th Street). The benefit will feature a silent auction of some pieces from the fashion show and musical entertainment by local acts, Blacklisted Individuals, Damp Heat, Sunset, and The Always Already. There is a $5 suggested donation. Proceeds benefit Treasure City Thrift Store.
The fashion show and benefit are collaborations with iLoveMikeLitt which also produced last year's show and benefit.
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Lucy P, what are you wearing?
ME: I mean really, Lucy P, what's going on there?
LUCY P: oh, i just picked up a few things at the thrift store...
ME: do you mean to tell me that handmade, one of a kind radio 91.1 shirt is for sale at treasure city?
LUCY P: of course
ME:and the belt too?
LUCY P: yup, in all it's metallic pink leather glory.
ME:and did you find that book there too?
LUCY P: yeah, i thought i'd pick up a new skill in my spare time.
ME:and what's that you've got under the other arm?
LUCY P: why, it's my royal american miss trophy, of course
ME: does that really say you're a photogenic winner?
LUCY P: yes it does, and i won it fair and square.
ME: so you didn't get that from the thrift store?
LUCY P: oh no, but I'll sell it to you.
ME: I noticed it already has a treasure city price tag on it, what does that say?
LUCY P: it says: "priceless...ok, three bucks".
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