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Welcome
What is Treasure City Thrift?
At Treasure City, we believe that thrift stores by definition should be thrifty. So we are. By selling items in our store at lower prices than other local retail and thrift shops, we are affordable to all, opening our doors to a truly diverse set of folks. We are a constantly evolving hybrid of many things: Affordable Thrift Store, Junk & Curio Bazaar, Community & Events space, Infoshop, Non-Profit Business, Reuse Center, Really Really Free Market, 25c Sidewalk Sale, and an experiment in Alternative Economics. We also provide space for one of the Yellow Bike Project's Community Bike Shops and the mural on the side of our building, Mount Blackmore, was painted by local teens. You can read the TC mission statement here.
The store is volunteer-run and collectively organized. There are no bosses here! We are supported by donations of time (we love meeting new people) and goods (we always need more furniture, books and men's clothing) from the Austin community. We will pickup large or unwieldy donations on request or after yard/estate sales and house clearances. From the items you donate, we try to reuse and resell as much as possible, and to further divert waste from the landfill, we have a comprehensive recycling program developed with Ecology Action. We hope this project will be an inspiration and model for other groups to replicate, so we have started to document our history. We welcome your questions and comments.
"Possibly the best thrift store/social movement of the century... holding the torch for an Austin that is not so much "weird" as "freakish," in a good and not particularly mass-marketable way." - Austin Chronicle
HOW WE BUILD COMMUNITY - SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY
We started this project in 2006 to raise money and material support for small, local grassroots community groups and projects that traditionally have difficulty with funding. Our main financial and material beneficiary is the Inside Books Project, which sends 18,000 free books a year to Texas prisoners. If you are a group that meets these criteria and would like financial, material or promotional support from us or to use the space for events, contact us. You can also read more about the concept of Mutual Aid here.
As a collective, we also believe that the struggles for social justice are not separate, but in fact all linked together in a broader struggle for liberation - an injustice against one is an injustice against all. By networking and supporting diverse groups and people, regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, we all become stronger. For that reason, our space is available for community use outside of business hours. Learn more about using our space. We also have window space for groups we support to promote their events and free blank t-shirts (and other clothing) for screen printing.
lucy p is back
a conversation overheard in the store:
Customer Joe Shmoe: Hello Lucy P, what’s that you’re reading?
Lucy P: Popular mechanics -I found it in our magazine section –it’s a special issue on this new technology: computers so small you can hold them in your hands!
CJS:Uh, Lucy? Have you noticed that issue is from 1983? I think it might be a little out of date.
LP: Hmmm., I was kinda confused about how we could have some of these things in our display case here at the thrift store if they had just been invented…
CJS: Yeah, you don’t get out much do you? You’ve got an amazing outfit on today though, I noticed: The black boots, red skirt with tulle underlining...
and polka dot belt, red leather purse with a swallow appliqué, and that black t shirt…I don’t get it though “I am Albert Woodfox”? I thought your name was Lucy. Who’s Albert?
LP: Albert is one of the Angola 3, you can read about the case at http://www.a3grassroots.org/.
CJS: Whoa, very interesting. I can’t believe I can the extent of the one stop shopping: cheap awesome stuff plus information about all kinds of local and global struggles for social justice. Treasure City sure is an amazing place.
LP: Yup, you’re right that I don’t get out much, but really, why would I need to go anywhere else?
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2 years in Business: a Retrospective
Our New Store Front (east)
Our Store Front circa August, 2007
NAACP Building Fire Next Door
Our New Store Front (west)
-----> This October, we will be celebrating our 2nd year in business as a radical thrift store. In summarizing this time (which seems longer than 2 years!), I'd say that we as a collective have faced and met many challenges - 4 fires, one of which destroyed the front of our building and one which destroyed neighboring buildings - and received great support from the neighborhood/local communities.
Our initial mission was to give financial support to 2 or 3 radical projects in town that were always underfunded. Instead we have given material support to over 30 local organizations, and also to hundreds of individuals through the Really Really Free Market in Chestnut Park. Since January of 2007, we have provided space for the Yellow Bike Project to run a neighborhood community bike shop and support an after school program at Kealing Middle School. The store also hosts regular free events such as skill shares, movies, fashion shows, music, and helped to established the Really Really Free Market.
And during this whole time we have managed to stay the most affordable thrift store in Austin...
Footnote: the East 12th and Chicon area is still over-shadowed by historic and deliberate neglect from the city, police and slumlords, exploitation by speculators/developers and a lack of basic services, such as a grocery store or bank. Sadly most visitors to the area see drugs as the problem, rather than a symptom of this neglect.
But there is a new positive feeling around that isn't due to an influx of boutique stores, condos or increased police harassment. The solutions for this area run deeper than simple law enforcement - they are all long-term (i.e. longer than a political term) and require your participation. Rebuilding community ourselves is a damn good place to start.
Links:
Volunteer at Treasure City
Really Really Free Market
25c Sidewalk Sales
Yellow Bike Project, Treasure City Shop
Inside Books (books to prison project)
Skillshare Austin at Treasure City
Groups We Support
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Lucy P, what are you wearing?
ME: I mean really, Lucy P, what's going on there?
LUCY P: oh, i just picked up a few things at the thrift store...
ME: do you mean to tell me that handmade, one of a kind radio 91.1 shirt is for sale at treasure city?
LUCY P: of course
ME:and the belt too?
LUCY P: yup, in all it's metallic pink leather glory.
ME:and did you find that book there too?
LUCY P: yeah, i thought i'd pick up a new skill in my spare time.
ME:and what's that you've got under the other arm?
LUCY P: why, it's my royal american miss trophy, of course
ME: does that really say you're a photogenic winner?
LUCY P: yes it does, and i won it fair and square.
ME: so you didn't get that from the thrift store?
LUCY P: oh no, but I'll sell it to you.
ME: I noticed it already has a treasure city price tag on it, what does that say?
LUCY P: it says: "priceless...ok, three bucks".
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lucy p loves you
and she wants to be your myspace friend: www.myspace.com/lucyptreasure
This week she's picked up some beach reading in her new sparkly pocket...
...and some kinda crazy shoes.
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introducing lucy p!
She's got a name now, and she made her austin debut this weekend at the yellowbike birthday party. Here she is, looking pretty badass 
and here she's handing out some treasure city flyers to the crowd
and getting ready to leave, but not without making sure she's got a critical mass schedule tucked into her bag.
she'll be starting her weekly blog tomarrow, showing off our newest and hottest merchandise. Look for it each tuesday.
contact meif you'd like to invite lucy p. to your event.
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