Kathy Loew, director of the new non-profit Closet to Closet clothing store in Churdan, has lofty goals. She wants to fulfill her mission of helping struggling families find affordable clothing, and she wants to make Churdan a travel destination.
Her secret tool in meeting those goals: Resale.
Closet to Closet, located at 500 Sand St (aka Main St) in the former grocery store, sells donated clothing, but with creative decorating and a very close look at the quality of the clothing available, it’s not much like a Goodwill or Salvation Army store.
According to Loew, second hand stores have become a destination. “There are a lot of people who like shopping where the merchandise is one of a kind. They don’t want to see a rack filled with identical things just in different sizes. And they like finding a bargain,” Loew said.
“For Millennials, second-hand shopping is trendy because it’s unique. They like a Vintage look or a Retro look. It’s authentic here,” she said.
Loew grew up in Urbandale and confesses that she was a shopaholic. She reports cleaning out her shoe closet once and finding more than 70 pairs, and she never went to a place like Goodwill. She worked in Pioneer’s corporate offices for 17 years and dressed for success.
That changed when she got divorced, eventually remarried, and moved to a farm south of Churdan. “We wanted a slower life. My husband wanted to farm,” she explained.
By choice they didn’t get satellite television or internet at their house, and they relied instead on the Churdan public library. As they got to know people, they became aware of a need. “We realized that there are a lot of families in small towns that get by on low paying jobs. They don’t have a lot, and getting clothes for their kids can be a challenge,” she said.
She talked with school officials and Teresa Lansman at New Opportunities in Jefferson and learned more. An idea sprouted in her head. When she noticed the “For Sale” sign on the old grocery store it was too faded to read. She and her husband Pete found the owner, Pat Geisler, through the county assessor’s website. They looked at the building, found it was sound and very affordable, and decided to purchase it.
She and Pete took down paneling and repaired stucco, moved out old coolers, and built dressing rooms to prepare for a soft opening Aug. 26.
Loew is tapped into a network of resale clothing outlets and she gets almost all her inventory from outside Greene County. She gets 80 bags of clothing a week and has 2,000 yet to go through. “That keeps things fresher for my customers. They don’t have to worry that the person who donated the clothing will see them wearing it,” she said.
It also gives a much wider variety of clothing. Name a designer or name brand, and it’s likely to be at Closet to Closet. Rock Revival, Big Star, Buckle, Brighton, Coach, Hilfiger, Polo, Fossil, Ugg…. It’s all there, and at a fraction of the cost.
She will accept local donations, but prefers to do it by appointment, and warns that she may not take everything. “If I set standards for what I’ll take, my customers will know what they can expect when they shop here,” she explained.
Prices are low so families can afford them. “We want to help people who are really trying to help themselves. We want to help stretch their budgets,” she said. Closet to Closet will also in some cases donate clothing to families through the local schools.
At the same time, she’d like to see the business grow to a destination. She spoke of Secrets, a consignment shop in Moorland. “Drive past there and you’ll see license plates from 10 different counties. People go there because it’s fun to go out and find something unique and pay a bargain price for it,” she said.
She wants Closet to Closet to be the same. “It takes someone to make the first leap, to get something going in a small town so people and more businesses will come,” she said. “We hear about building tourism in Jefferson. If we make the rural communities a destination, people will make a day of it. They’ll come spend a day in Greene County. You can’t have tourism if you don’t build it in the small towns, too.”
“You can find things you don’t expect in a small town. That’s what makes it fun,” Loew said.
Closet to Closet is open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 6 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm. Find it on Facebook.
