DAN QUAGLIANA
Managing Editor
Have you ever met a college student who doesn’t love going thrifting?
No, you haven’t.
Have you ever met a college student who prefers driving off-campus to do something they enjoy?
No, you haven’t.
Now, students can go to SUNY Fredonia’s very own thrift store, all while staying within the comfort of campus.
On Feb. 4, the office of Residence Life opened the doors of the student-run Thrift Room in Eisenhower Hall, allowing students to take home second-hand clothing and dorm appliances.
Racks of clothes crisscross the room, and the area around the back wall is dedicated to dorm materials that aren’t clothing-related.
“Over the past few years, residence halls have been offering areas within their halls to have items for students to take as they need,” said Kathy Forster, the director of Residence Life. “This was becoming popular in more than just a few halls. In an effort to keep the idea of providing basic needs more sustainable, it was decided to consolidate these areas to one hall and in one lounge.”
The idea for The Thrift Room was “originated by [residence directors, residence assistants] and students living in the residence halls.”
Rylee Crandall, a visual arts/new media: animation/illustration major, is currently serving as the manager of The Thrift Room through SUNY’s Empire State Service Corp (ESSC) program. As part of her position, she “has been writing down suggestions for improvement” to share with Forster to help The Thrift Room run more smoothly and to make sure they are catering to students’ needs.
“By managing the store I mainly just sanitize and display the donations, as well as help out the students that come in by giving them directions, chatting with them or reassuring them that, yes, everything is free for students and to take what they need,” Crandall said. “Being able to tell the students that every time feels great and I think that is truly why it is such a hit.”
So far, The Thrift Room has been very popular amongst students on campus — according to Forster, 44 people visited it on its first day open. That may be due to the wide range of things that students can acquire there.
In addition to clothes like any other thrift store, the one in Eisenhower also offers room decor and dorm appliances, such as refrigerators. And “store” isn’t exactly an accurate term to use to describe it — all items have been “donated and are free,” which is why Residence Life named it The Thrift “Room.”
Residence Life does “plan to seek donations” as the need arises. “In addition, at the end of the semester we will ask students to donate items directly to The Thrift Room for other students to benefit from,” Forster explained.
She also said that “preparation of the donations for The Thrift Room was a bigger lift than [we] originally thought. We will reevaluate at the end of the first month to see what is needed.”
“I didn’t realize what a huge outpouring of donations I would get,” Forster remarked. “…the room is not that big, so for now we will open with what we have and ask for more when needed.”
“Kathy, though, had a room full of donations that was as tall as I was and [I was] willing to put in the hours, so here it is,” Crandall remembered. “It took a full semester but now I officially work as an Empire State Service Corps member and the thrift store is officially open for business!”
ESSC is “a new program branching off of AmeriCorps specifically for SUNY students,” according to Crandall.
“I was looking to go into the basic needs sector of the program because that’s where I believed I could do the most work,” she said. “Long story short, no one here had heard much about it, which [is what] landed me as a student assistant working under both [Director of Student Health] Debbie Dibble and Kathy Forster!”
Located in Eisenhower Hall, next to the loading dock, The Thrift Room is open Tuesdays from 3 to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.