cory's blog

October
Treasure City News

Halloween Costumes will be out this saturday oct 3!
WANT A FREE HALLOWEEN COSTUME?
Sign up to be a part of our Halloween photo shoot this Sunday, Oct 4th, 2pm.The first 10 people who sign up will come to the store sunday and pick out their entire costume –clothes, accessories, even props- for free. A photo will be taken of all the costumes, and instantly turned into a poster for you to take home. In exchange for your costume, we’ll ask you to commit to putting up/handing out at least 20 posters . You must sign up in advance to participate –email cory@treasurecitythrift.org, call 524-2820 during our business hours, or stop by the store to sign up. Need ideas for where your posters could go? Business windows around your neighborhood, the bullitan board at your favorite coffee shop, your website/myspace/facebook (we’ll send you a jpeg), handed out to folks at the next show/meeting/event you attend, in the bathroom stall at the bar, on your friends fridge, on your living room wall….

WANT TO DROP OFF DONATIONS IN SOUTH AUSTIN?
We’ll be accepting donations at the AustinMama yardsale:
SUN OCT 11, 9am - 1pm
more than 20 sellers
at Thai Fresh & Cafe Caffeine
909 W. Mary Street 78704
Look for our big blue van with a red Treasure City Sign.
We’ll also be there selling kids clothes and all kind of other treasures.

WANT LEFT TURN MAGAZINE?
We’ve just started carrying one of our favorite magazines. Like Treasure City, Left Turn is “commited to model the world we want to see by organizing collectively, democratically, and without hierarchy…Whether working on a local community campaign or doing international solidarity work, we seek to fight all forms of oppression” (that’s from their mission statement. Come by Treasure City to pick up the new issue for info on the 2010 US social Forum, the recent New Orleans delegation to Gaza, and Austin’s own Worker’s Defense Project!

WANT SOME REALLY COOL NEW STUFF?
How about an inside out art bear? An alarm clock that rings? A book to learn shorthand? An orange suede skirt? A twin bed? A pair of soccer cleats or roller blades?

WANT ALL KINDS OF FREE STUFF?
The next really really free market is on October 25th. Come down to Chestnut park, at 16th and Chestnut, between 1 and 4pm, to find out what it’s all about. If you’d like to get more involved with the free market, we could use your help loading the free goodies in or out. Contact reallyfreeaustin@gmail.com for details.

WANT MORE TO READ? www.treasurecitythrift.org
xo
cory
for the treasure city collective

Treasure City
September News

***FEATHER YOUR NEST***
It’s still hot as hell, but you’re moving into a new place or settling into your old one, because fall is just around the corner. You’ll find everything you need to feather your nest while funding grassroots social change in Austin.

We know you need plenty of sheets, towels, curtains and blankets, so we’ve put a bunch of them on sale for only a dollar a piece this week. Come in soon for the best selection, or come in this Saturday when we’ll put ALL LINENS ON SALE for one day only.

You’ll also find dishes, mugs, and utensils for only 50 cents each, and an assortment of kitchen appliances, furniture, and household basics at our usual low prices.

Beyond the basics, here’s a few unique items your home might need:
-a handmade ceramic “bald is beautiful” sign.
-Post Katrina Portraits for coffee table reading. Check it out at postkatrinaportraits.org
-candy dishes and silver platters
-a complete dissection kit
-a big, sturdy, solid wood dining room table to load up with potluck dinners
-an old fashioned typewriter with a classic desk to put it on

***NEW AND VINTAGE CLOTHING TREASURES***
You know how every once and a while you find an amazing deal among the racks of clothing at Treasure City? Some brand new, expensive dress with the tags still on it, or a unique piece that would cost 5 times as much at a vintage shop? We want to make it easier to find those treasures, so we’ve pulled some of them out for you; you’ll find them on the new “vintage/new/staff picks” rack next to the dressing room.

***REALLY REALLY FREE MARKET***
No, not the free market of multinational trade agreements, the one that’s really really free…maybe you’ve heard of this phenomenon, but haven’t gotten around to checking it out yet. Maybe September 27th will be the day you finally come down to Chestnut park, at 16th and Chestnut, between 1 and 4pm, to find out what it’s all about. We’ll see you there. If you’d like to get more involved with the free market, we could use your help loading the free goodies in or out. Contact reallyfreeaustin@gmail.com for details.

Just arrived.
Retailed for over $1000.
Still has it's tag from goodwill for $129.
It's in perfect shape.
We're selling it here for $40.
Seriously.

It's a size 14. You probably want to come try it on. Quick.

Treasure City News

-------The Eclectro Garage Sale Show------
Sun, Aug 2
8pm-midnight
Salvage Vanguard Theater 2803 Manor Rd, Austin

The Eclectro Garage Sale is a collaboration between experimental music nonprofit Church of the Friendly Ghost and radical thrift store Treasure City.
Creative electronic sound artists will perform on the Salvage Vanguard's stage while a garage sale of Treasure City's funnest stuff happens in the gallery.
Each of the acts use recycled and often unwanted materials in their music:
Jano (thing) Selector mixes old audiotapes into poetic ambient soundscapes.
The Furby Youth Choir turns furry electronic toys into circuit bent crooners.
Eric Archer creates sound from light as it passes through old cameras.
Spaceinvader Orchestra wires together old record players and mixes broken records.

-------Back to School Sale-----
For the first week in August, we’ve brought out lots of extra back to school items: Binders and school supplies all under $2, Backpacks and school bags all under $5, kid’s clothes$1-2…while they last!

-------Building News--------
We’re still working on buying a building (read more about that at http://www.treasurecitythrift.org/move), but have extended our lease at our current location through January, so we’ll be there that long at least…if you know of a great building we should look at, or want to throw a fundraiser for our building fund, please contact cory@treasurecitythrift.org.

--------Volunteer Opportunities---------
Can you install ducts to make our air conditioner work better? Can you make us a great new promo poster/flyer? Love to organize and clean thrift stores? Want to work in the store on a regular shift or once in a while? Need a little extra data entry in your life? Want to help run the Really Really Free Market? Interested in learning more about consensus process and alternative economic models? Talk to any of us in the store or email cory@treasurecitythrift.org. We are run by volunteers (maybe including you?) and welcome your involvement

...and moving Treasure City to a more permanent location

At a time when stocks are devalued every day, your investment in your community comes back to you a thousand fold.

For two and a half years, Treasure City Thrift has been supplying money and material resources to local grass roots community groups. We have given away almost $2000 in cash to groups like Inside Books Project, Indymedia, and Resistencia Books, and provided shop space for Austin Yellow Bike Project since 2007. In addition, we have give many thousands of dollars worth of material resources (books, clothing, bicycle and parts, gardening equipment, office supplies, sound equipment and art supplies) free of charge to dozens of other groups including Casa Marinella, Skill Share Austin, Lifeworks, ARCH (F.A.B. program), Inside Books, Books Beyond Borders, Monkeywrench Books, Trouble Puppet Theater, community gardens and more.

At the end of July, Treasure City’s lease at its current 12th St. location is ending. We are looking to increase the long-term stability of our storefront and are committed to doing everything we can to stay in the neighborhood that has given us so much support thus far. But we cannot do it without your help.

Treasure City is aiming to raise $25,000 over the next few months so that we have the capital necessary to renovate a new building and move in while still continuing the smooth operation of the store. Our mission is to assist other non-profits in getting out of the constant fundraising cycle. We’d prefer not to engage in fundraising ourselves, but in order to realize the long-term dream of economic self-sufficiency, we must ask for your help with the initial investment. We truly believe that this investment will come back to our communities many times over both in economic terms (financial support of other non-profits and potential job creation) and in less quantifiable ways such as transforming waste into resources, providing material goods needed by individuals and organizations, and creating the long term community stability that only collective ownership of our physical infrastructure can ensure.

Treasure City is committed to building community based on liberty, justice and equality, and we ask you to join us in making this possible. You can donate any amount her on our website, or by check mailed to (or dropped off at) 1720 E. 12th St., Austin, TX 78702. Thanks for your support! And please contact us with any feedback, ideas, or interest in getting involved!

xo
James and Cory for the treasure city collective