It’s not ‘swapping’—it’s ‘shwopping’ and now the resale boutique that has so far been Woodstock’s secret in SE Portland is preparing for growth.
Portland’s Shwop, a membership-based boutique offering high quality gently used women’s clothing, shoes and jewelry with a vintage chic vibe is planning to expand its community.
Shwop is the frugal fashionista’s dream—a mix of shopping and swapping that creates a smart and fun way for women to expand and enhance their wardrobes without breaking the bank. For a monthly, quarterly or annual fee, members get unlimited access to any item in the Shwop store simply by contributing some of their own items for other shoppers to take advantage of. This ‘revolving door’ of fashion makes it easy for shoppers to trade out that dress or jacket they’ve worn a few times and get new pieces.
"Every woman has that amazing pair of shoes or jeans that they purchased yet for some reason just don’t wear and we’ve got a way for them to trade in those items and take away great "new to them" pieces,” said Marci Pelletier, store owner. “We call it ‘shwopping’ and it allows women to freshen up their closets and have incentive to trade items they’re not wearing. Our membership-based concept has been extremely popular and we've built a large community of women who enjoy meeting up at the store to shop for and contribute clothes on a regular basis. "
Shwop opened its doors in Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood in June 2012 and has since experienced exponential growth, spurring the need for a bigger store and offerings that include men and children.
“Members shop here for a variety of reasons and I think a large part of it is the community aspect. In addition to the shopping, members connect and form new friendships,” Pelletier said. “The store has been a social experiment of sorts wrapped up in a business. We're building a community of like-minded families who like to a good deal on quality clothing. "
Contributions to Shwop support two local women's organizations, Shepherds Door and the Russian Oregon Social Services by providing shopping vouchers based on store donations and items not used in the store.
People in Portland, Oregon are invited to stop by to check out Shwop and learn more about how to take part in unlimited shopping with a Shwop membership. The store will be moving to 24th and Powell Blvd at the end of April where the whole family can shop.
For more information about Shwop, please visit http://community.wooeb.com/shwop or http://www.shwoppdx.com. To see the latest items coming into the store join us on the Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/ShwopPDX or follow us on Twitter @ShwopNation.
