Thread Up started charging 25 cents per pound for the drop-off of textiles at its facility at the beginning of March. The non-profit also began hosting the “freejects,” allowing customers to bring in certain clothing items free of charge.
The apparel they currently accept with no fee includes socks, children’s clothing, denim, athletic wear and yarn.
Shana Rosenberg and a close friend of hers started Thread Up back in 2021 as a redistribution company that recycles textiles in hopes of preventing them from ending back up in landfills or being improperly disposed of overseas.
Thread Up began charging their customers on certain items, such as socks and rags, because they began to have a surplus of inventory. Thread Up Oxford tackles the growing problem of textile waste through innovative community initiatives.
Through its secondhand clothing store, UptownThreads, Thread Up is able to fund its mission and provide free clothing to those in need. It has partnerships with social services and has started to charge for certain textile donations.
Emily Mueller started working at Uptown Threads in August 2023 and recalled her favorite tradition at the store: donating free socks to families in need.
“We donate a lot of our T-shirts, like a shirt with the marathons with all the sponsors on the back… get donated to people to do crafts, and a lot of the high schoolers get those shirts as well,” said Mueller.
A new addition to the thrift store is its “boutique” section that features vintage and more high-end items, which has grown in popularity, said Mueller.
“Brand new nice shoes, like Ralph Lauren boots, all that kind of stuff. But it’s not just nice stuff; it’s also cool vintage stuff too,” said Mueller.
Rosenburg officially bought the shop in 2023, located on Locust Street right by the Wendy’s in Oxford alongside their sister thrift shop, Uptown Threads. However, Thread Up is primarily a textile donation hub, while Uptown Threads is for clothing retail.
“In our first year of operation, we actually sent them [Goodwill] like 700 pounds of stuff, (with) which probably nothing could happen. Oh gosh. But we didn’t know,” said Rosenberg.
The non-profit is currently accepting volunteers to assist with organizing the “freejects” and sorting old inventory. Their “freejects” program ensures that unsellable textiles find a new purpose in the form of craft projects or donating to the elementary school.
“All of the things we don’t sell because there’s something wrong with them, we just give away, and we know they are able to fund their mission and provide not a substitute for good clothes for people in hardship, but we know someone might need a ratty T-shirt for gardening or denim for a project,” said Rosenberg.
In addition to their “freejects” project, Thread Up’s website says it is working on a “mass production effort to see if they can develop a revenue stream out of a hugely overproduced category of clothing.”
Thread Up offers volunteer hours Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and upon special requests on the weekends. The growing volunteer involvement, which includes Miami University students, helps the organization process with up to two tons a month.
Thread Up’s mission is to help the greater Oxford community in any way possible. They partner with other organizations like TOPPS, which provides emergency food needs for families, as well as Miami’s international student office.
