College isn’t cheap and shopping for college is even worse, especially when you can barely afford Ramen Noodles and Rite Aid makeup to live on. Lucky for us poor college chicks, Philadelphia is full of vintage thrift stores where we can bargain shop and still look fabulously trendy while on a tight budget.
Philly AIDS Thrift located in Queen Village, aka Philadelphia’s “Gayborhood,” looks like a cute little store from the outside, but the inside is a different story. Flashing lights on the front door lead to two fabulous levels of a jam-packed thrifting heaven to get lost in.
This is the spot where you can find anything and everything from retro outfits that reinvent 80’s and 90’s fashion trends, to a new Forever 21 leather jacket for only $7.
They accept all donations and recycle clothes, shoes, jewelry, scarves, hats, purses, fun fashionable items, furniture, houseware, artwork, toys, books, magazines – you name it.
Even the stained or damaged donations that can’t be resold in the store are sold to Pennies for Pounds, a weight company that in turn donates to “rags companies,” where the recycled items are distributed to underserved countries in need. Overall, nothing is ever wasted.
Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, manager and co-founder of Philly AIDS Thrift, started with a small shop on Bainbridge St. over ten years ago, which eventually grew to the much bigger location on S. 4th Street.
As a life-long advocate for the LGBT community and AIDS awareness, Kallas-Saritsoglou has dedicated much of her time working for various AIDS organizations in Philadelphia and benefitting them through the store’s business.
“When I was a teenager in the 80s, going to thrift stores back then wasn’t cool, but me and my friends thought it was and that’s how we had our own looks,” Kallas-Saritsoglou said. “Now it’s interesting to see people buy things 80’s – it’s kind of funny, but it’s cool because the people coming to our thrift store are putting effort into making their own really cool look instead of just buying that same t-shirt everybody else has,” she added.
Kallas-Saritsoglou said the specialized clothing staff is very well-versed in vintage and designer and are great at styling what people love to wear.
The clothes are categorized, organizing the miscellaneous pieces scattered all over the store. Downstairs, the section with formal clothes, suits, ties and dresses is called “Fancyland” and towards the back of the store, the “Seasonal” section includes both popular and unknown brands – not to mention “Dollar Jewelry Land” right next to it. With rooms full of clothing racks after racks, many shoppers said the “Vintage” section upstairs is by far their favorite in the store, keeping the trendy 80s fashion alive.
Brittany Jalio, a junior communications major with a secondary specialization in fashion merchandising at Philadelphia University, has volunteered at Philly AIDS Thrift for the past year and recently became an employed staff-member.
Jalio works as a R.A at Philly U and began volunteering after taking her residents there on a community engagement excursion.
“We get really great things. I found Topshop, Burberry, Free People, Zara – I just found a pair of Versace jeans today,” Jalio said. “Of course we get Forever 21 and all that stuff as well, but there’s stuff like Doc Martins and so many things you wouldn’t be able to find somewhere else.”
Jalio thinks the best clothes in the store are found in the vintage section.
Kallas-Saritsoglou said Philly AIDS Thrift is much more than just a thrift store, in a sense that it has become more of a community safe-haven for many people inPhiladelphia.
“We serve all communities – we have free bins outside, dollar bins upstairs, antiques, collectibles and so much”, Kallas-Saritsoglou said.
“There’s people from all walks of life – teenagers, college students, older people, younger people, hipsters, rich people, not so rich people – it’s just for everyone.”