Our Story

Welcome to our story! Here you'll learn about our journey, values, and what makes us unique. To  tell my story of where Thrift Haus came from,  I need to start from a very long time ago when my children were little. You see, I raised my children on thrifted clothes. For my daughters, it was one of their highlights of the weekends to go thrifting. The thrill of the hunt! It was a way for me to be able to provide more options in their clothing and style, on a budget. I've always been grateful to be able to give the shopping opportunity to my children, where I couldn't always do with new retail. I raised thrifters, who knew they didn't have to buy new to be in style. As a result of purchasing clothing for so many children (6), I was constantly donating clothes my kids grew out of, and always wondered why there wasn't more of a reward for my donation.

Fast forward to 2025, one of my daughters and I took the trip of a lifetime to Greece. We stumbled upon a privately owned thrift store that imported used clothing from Italy, the birthplace of fashion! Everything was priced very low and all one price, regardless of what brand it it was. The space was fun and felt like a new retail store. We shopped for over an hour. Digging our way through racks and racks of clothes. We had to buy an extra bag just to bring all our goodies home! While there, I thought about how our thrifting experiences here had changed for a while now. Pricing of basic clothing went up, and if it was brand name, it really went up! I saw how there became a disconnect to what families can afford and what free donated clothing was priced. Even when the world has an over abundance of used clothing. I realized our idea of shopping used clothing was missing the value of understanding where our clothes come from, previously owned or not. I decided to combine the experience of Greece and here together. To provide a full store which already has a mix of sorted nearly new items set up in a new retail feel space, along with a community powered donor program.

I felt there should be a reward system for donating, vs spending - as a lot of thrift store models are set up. A community participation model, with a mutual benefit. If you donate, you are always rewarded. If you don't want to donate, you're still rewarded with affordable prices at Thrift Haus.

That's how the idea of Thrift Haus started. It's not a charity, it's not consignment. It's a new way to bring affordable used clothing back, in a space that is fun and exciting for the shopper, from areas in the US that we normally don't have access to, unless we travel there such as New York or LA (When we are able, we will import from Italy too!). Valuing donors with a discount every time they donate in a month, without having to wait for a sale. And most important, providing a space where used clothing is seen as something other than discarded with friendly staff. We need to remember even when we "dispose" our clothes, they do not just go away - they end up in our oceans, landfills, and breaks down in our water (especially fabric that is now man made). Shout out the handful of thrift stores out there that still give fair prices (we all know who they are!), I hope you come to appreciate Thrift Haus in the same way!

- Julie