Watching women blaze trails is one of my favorite past times. Despite (or perhaps because of) the obstacles in Her way, she will find a way. I wanted to highlight a fantastic example of this, in my local Portland community. To my knowledge, @LauraHalley is the first female entrepreneur to own a consignment shop that exclusively takes and sells gently worn sportswear. My basement is SO grateful for her store, Revive Athletics, because during the course of the pandemic, I accidentally (I promise, @mattplitch!) accumulated too much sportswear and missed all the return deadlines. I wish that somehow, ownership of sportswear would automatically translate to a slimming and strengthening effect, but I’ll send that wish to my Genie.
When I left my global health career eight years ago, I always wondered if/when/how I would find my way back to the public sector and social impact. As I tuned in to today’s United Nations International Day of Sport for Peace and Development, I was reminded that where I work today (luckily, @nike), serves as a perfect platform and nexus of something I’m very passionate about (sport), and causes that have great significance to the world, and to me (advancement of women and girls, and addressing climate change). It also occurred to me, that the challenge and opportunity with sport is that it is a cause of (e.g. flying/driving athletes to competitions, extractive practices of raw materials to make uniforms/jerseys), and a casualty of (e.g. races being run in far warmer temperature today than at any other time in history) climate change.
Out for a Sunday stroll three weekends ago, I stumbled into Revive Athletics. I loved the whole vibe. The clothes didn’t smell like typical consignment store clothes (that is to say, musty, worn, used). The racks were organized by type of sportswear (hat v. leggings v. bras v. tops) and by size. Windows coral two sides of the store, and light floods in accordingly. Laura greets you with a smile, and will offer help if you look lost or have questions, but mostly leaves you alone to shop quietly. The items are awesome! Some of it retro, some of it from this season’s collection, all brands are represented, and all of it gently worn. A good bit of it was new. Two dressing rooms with a thoughtful shelf built in. The shelves are lower in height, catering to smaller or disabled people. There’s one full-length mirror in the store. You have to walk across the space to see yourself — so strategic as all the other shoppers in the store ooh- and ahh- when you sashay across the court. The consignment system is effective. You get a certain payout in cash if you want, which is lower than the payout you’d get in credit to spend in the store. It’s also hyper community centric. When I stopped by for my second time this weekend, they were closed and hosting a community yoga event. All items that consigners bring in that are not accepted for whatever reason (out of season, not in style, etc.), are then donated to Rose Haven (a shelter for women), and New Avenues for Youth.
In short, I LOVE THIS PLACE. And I love that Laura is starting a grassroots movement that is sure to swell. She calls her Consumers — Revivalists! I learned from Laura that:
It takes one pair of leggings 500+ years to break down in a landfill. On average, someone will only wear something 7 times before getting rid of it.
And thredUP estimated that if everyone in the US bought just one used item instead of a new one, the carbon saved would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the road for a year.
Portland Peeps, please go visit! If you’re not from Portland, put Revive on your list of pitstops when you visit the city! Or you can shop online (new items uploaded every Monday).
And the good news — everyone can take 2 minutes to help Laura out right now, by voting Revive Athletics the Best Clothing Resale store for the upcoming issue of Willamette Week! She has shared that this would be a huge help for her, and will bring her foot traffic, especially as we head into the warm summer months! You can complete your small act of kindness today, using only 16 keystrokes!
Game On!
Quinn + Momma shopping: https://youtube.com/shorts/pAw1anRS4fA?feature=share
Quinn trying on clothes: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8hsAEDv87hI
