On Monday, Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. we met with BeeJay at the 35th/Archer orange line station in order to go to Family Thrift Store. Unfortunately, the location was permanently closed. We hopped back on the orange line and took the Midway train to Western just one stop over. We made our way to Village Discount Outlet on W 47th St. and S Maplewood Ave.
“I basically resell vintage clothes. I resell them on depop, Poshmark and eBay,” said BeeJay, as he went through the “Trenches” of the thrift store.
Q: Is this one of your favorite thrift stores?
A: Village Discount is one of my favorite thrift locations. Today, I’m taking advantage of the half-off special since today is Martin Luther King Day. I come often, sometimes with my girlfriend, other times with my friends and most of the time it’s by myself.
Q: Why does this thrift store brand stand out from all the others?
A: I feel like there are pros and cons to all thrift stores. This one has more of a collection like a house decor to children's clothes. Sometimes I like to style my house with old stuff too, which I find at places like this.
“With vintage clothes, I try and stay away from screen print tags.
I’m noticing that you gotta go with what the thrift God’s say. If they have crazy jackets it's a jacket day. Today is a mixed day…
You can never be so sure that’s why you gotta go through everything twice. Because just when you think there’s nothing I'll pull out some heat off the rack.”
Q: What’s one of your favorite grails you’ve come across at a thrift?
A: A Black Sabbath tour tee and an old Tommy Hilfiger jersey had the spell out on the back with the flag on the front. They are all equal to me because they're all my children.
“I started flipping thrifts in 2017, I was always a thrifter. I used to go to my grandma when I was about 12-years-old and we use to be there for hours.
Just recently I’m starting to understand the ins and outs of what to grab. At first, I was just grabbing it for myself and id never wear it, so I was like let me get rid of this shit.
The thrift game is changing now since we're in a new decade. So everything from the early 2000s is considered vintage.
I’m really specific on jeans the only ones I would get would be some orange tab Levi’s. They don’t make those anymore so they go for more money. Also, Guess with the patch on the back some Wranglers and some Lee’s.
Once you find yourself going through the same thing and seeing the same thing you know it's time to switch up. If you have any time you’ll basically evaluate what you have, see the profit in it and the defects in it and go from there.”
Once BeeJay filled up his cart with items he stepped aside and evaluated all his items. He ended up with about 3/4 of all the items he primarily had put in the shopping cart.
Q: What was your budget walking in?
A: I usually don’t have a budget but end up spending no more than $60 tops.
Q: Tell me about today's haul?
A: Today was a bit mixed I didn’t get any jeans but I got some track pants. I got more so like jackets a few tees. I would say the grail is this Bull’s jacket it’s a project I need to fix it up so it's actually worth something. [The zipper was sewn shut and the pockets were unstitched.]
BeeJay ended up paying $45 for his thrift haul.
Checkout BeeJay’s Instagram @bumthreads, depop and Poshmark.