How To Start A Thrift Store With Culley Donovan

We check out Minneapolis’ newest thrift store Lost & Found. Co-owner Culley Donovan gives us the inside scoop on what it takes to start and get a thrift store off the ground and gives us an interesting in-store tour. Culley turned his passion for thrifting into one of the best thrift stores Minneapolis has to offer or that frankly, I’ve ever been in. It has a little bit of everything, all hand-picked gems by the man himself – check it out! See the video here. (18 mins.)

http://www.foundthrift.com

Don’t Dwell On It – Act On Your Passion!

EXTRA LIGHT THRIFTING week on my end. Lots of stuff going on this Fall. Fall is when most businesses slough off the last of their peeling suntans and kick it back into high gear. I managed to score a small stack of Dwell magazines for $2 each. It’s one of my top 3 favorite publications of all time. A little design, a little architecture, a little product design thrown in for good measure, just all around good, idea sparking reading. Check it out here and get a subscription whydont’cha.

SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC: I’d like to mention/PLUG something for all you readers. About 2 years ago I was laid off for a few months from my 9-5 design job and started just going to thrift stores. Simply because I had the time to do it and because I’m pretty keen on spotting shit that resells for good coin. I lived very comfortably doing this for a full time job those few months. That’s what initially spawned this blog. During that time, I also discovered a dude named Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary is this crazy, A.D.D. north-Jersey guy who has a great wine video blog (Vlog?). I can honestly say that Gary’s passion for his lo-fi Vlog helped keep me motivated to get going and act on my passion of kickin around thrift shops and supporting myself when I didn’t have steady income. It’s amazing what a person can find out about themselves when faced with a bout of unemployment. He’s recently come out with a book that I’m almost done reading called “CRUSH IT: Why Now Is Time To Cash In On Your Passion.” So far it’s exactly like Gary, direct, motivating, and funny. You can pick it up here from Amazon.com as well. It’s people like Gary that emit hustle and motivate followers to act on their passions in life. So as the nights get longer and the fleeting daylight sucks your energy level, pick up this lil’ book for a shot of literary espresso. You won’t be disappointed – trust me.

Noah Visits A Thrift Store (for the very first time)

MORE FRESH VIDEO GOODNESS to warm you up. My pal Noah and I visit a thrift store, so what – right? The thing is Noah has NEVER EVEN BEEN IN A THRIFT STORE. I know right?! This hit me as really odd. But he’s a good guy, so I took him to one, and here’s his before and after reaction. Enjoy.

Why Upcycling Is Better Than Recycling

Came across this post about upcycling instead of recycling on one of my favorite sites Planet Green. Seemed like a fitting post as its started to snow here in lovely Minneapolis. BRING FORTH the indoorsy wintertime activities!

Junky Styling: How To Remix Your Wardrobe

Check out this spot in London called Junky Styling. It features “original one-of-a-kind clothes made from hacking together thrift-store finds, salvaged textiles, and whatever happens to be lying around.” Read more about it here. It’s nice to see some thrift stuff from across the pond. Good work you Limey bastards. This great link was sent in to me by my good pal @Rustle Troyer. Be sure and check out his photo blog (phlog?) of “Alleged UFO Photos” good stuff.

Buffalo Exchange Thrift Store: A Quick Chat With Katrina

AS I PROMISED TO DELIVER MONTHS AGO – This week we come correct with a quick video treat for you all! We caught up with store manager Katrina Haugen who runs uptown Minneapolis’ newest thrift store sensation: Buffalo Exchange.  Katrina gives us some quick insight into opening, running, and operating a thrift store. She also gives us some good advice from a first hand thrift enthusiast. Before the interview (which takes place outside the store) we checked out the shop and found it to be suuuper organized, clean, and it has a great selection and variety of items. Literally something for everyone (yes, even dudes.) They have shoes, sweaters, pants, buttons, pins, costumes, wigs, artwork, etc.  They also buy quality items on the spot.You can check out their website here for more details, or follow them on Twitter: @buffaloexchange

Check out the VIDEO INTERVIEW and be sure to stop in and say hello to Katrina!

1 Year Anniversary Post!

Ladies and gentleman, IT’S ALREADY BEEN 1 FULL YEAR since starting this blog! Can you believe it? It’s been really fun so far. Some humble advice  – start a blog, any blog about the subject or activity that interests you. It’s just that easy.

So as a mini-self-celebration of this blog I hit up a Salvation Army store. I never notice that they have a particular color tag sale every day but today was a good day. I quickly found these 3 great mugs and brought them to the register for purchase. The man ringing me up mumbled something joyful about my tags being yellow and long story short – all 3 mugs ran me a whopping $1.14, no lie. There’s that colorful hot air balloon ceramic mug that I posted on Etsy for sale here. The other 2 mugs were my favorite GlasBake/Pyrex. One says “Sale Away” (intentional grammar mistake?) and the other one (my personal favorite) is a vintage 70’s one with a nice light peanut butter color and symmetrical floral design on it. In fact, the pattern on the mug reminds me of one of my favorite artists Dan Funderburgh.

Cheers to all my thifting peeps, and thanks for reading this blog and all of your support.

Shop Goodwill – Online.

Came across this site recently. Goodwill affiliates doing a non-profit eBay sort of thing. It’s sort of clunky to use off the bat, but I can see this improving and getting pretty cool.

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/