Maeve Bidonde, Arts Editor
One of the many gems one can find at SUNY Oneonta is the campus thrift store. Previously, the thrift store was hidden away in the basement of the Netzer Administration Building. The campus news page for the thrift store says that the move came about due to a growing haul of donations, a new team in charge, and a heavier focus campus wide on going green.
The store itself is open to students, staff, and the larger community in Oneonta and the prices are donation based with suggestion and it goes to a special scholarship worth $2,500. The scholarship goes to one student per year based on their involvement in campus sustainability. It was created in 2014, and since then it has awarded more than $15,000 to students.
Office of Sustainability Intern Sofia Delgado said that her favorite part of working at the thrift store is getting to see people find a really great item of clothing or decor and excitedly show it off to their friends. For those who are sports fans you might luck out and find Zubaz clothing. Zubaz is known for their brightly colored prints that are most likely to be worn by Buffalo Bills fans who have adopted Zubaz as game day clothing. Zubaz has colors and patterns for every team.
For students who may be interested in working at the thrift store, Delgado talked about the two ways to get involved. One way is to be an intern at the Office of Sustainability on campus, and the other is to become an EcoAmbassador. EcoAmbassadors join a committee as part of the title and one of the available committees involves the thrift shop.
March 3rd is the next donation day for the thrift shop and Delgado mentioned that some students have come in and asked if there is a limit on how much someone can donate and she said that there is no limit on the amount of donations one can make. She is predicting that at the next donation day they’ll see a lot of donations and maybe even some hidden gems too. She also said that her favorite part of a donation day is going through the clothing and seeing if there are any great finds for the shop to sell.
Currently the thrift shop is seeing a lot of people come in and shop, in fact the day of the interview the shop had been really busy. They tend to see an increase in business after donation days which Delgado theorizes is due to excitement of new donations meaning new clothes to look through and new chances to find a hidden gem.
Even the employees love the thrift store with Delgado saying that she’s excited to come to work because she loves organizing and watching all of the people who come in and shop. The thrift shop is a great way to get clothes without breaking the bank. It provides an opportunity for students who can’t afford to buy nice clothes from department stores to be able to get nice clothes for a price they can afford.
The thrift store is open Tuesday-Friday from 12:30 pm to 5 pm.
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