Thrifted Threads, a thrifting chain based in Houston, opened a new store on Aug. 26 in College Station with vintage resale clothing at affordable prices. Located on Texas Avenue at a revamped gas station, Thrifted Threads sits right across from the Texas A&M campus.
Thrifted Threads was founded in 2017 by owner Laith Awad when he was just 17 years old. Awad used social media to grow his online store, which ships products globally. He opened the first brick-and-mortar Thrifted Threads in Houston in 2022 and said he wants to expand his business to college campuses.
With free ice cream, free arcade games and rustic decor, Thrifted Threads offers a unique shopping experience.
“We’re going to install some benches outside so when the weather gets better, kids can come out here, they can study, they do their thing, maybe grab some food from next door, come out here and eat it, hang out and shop and grab some free ice cream,”Awad said. “I think it’s definitely an experience we’re creating.”
Awad said he hopes to give College Station residents and students an opportunity to find sustainably sourced and distinctive clothing at the “elevated thrift store.”
“We’re in textile recycling facilities all over Texas that basically process and save about five million pounds a month out of the wastelands, so we’re directly helping impact the environment,” Awad said.
Vintage products, which are often not biodegradable, are given a second life to minimize waste put in landfills, Awad said.
Thrifted Threads sells products from the 1980s to the early 2000s and provides new inventory every day alongside a wide selection of brands such as Nike, Harley Davidson, Carhartt and Tommy Hilfiger.
“I want to make sure that the stores are always filled — and that’s definitely a challenge — but I definitely take it to the next level to make sure we’re sourcing all over Texas in different cities,” Awad said.
Thrifted Threads has several employees working in Houston and College Station to source original, vintage and quality clothing, Awad said.
“I hand-pick everything with my team,” Awad said. “I review it two to three times before it ever comes out, so I feel like everything in here will help people in College Station have better options, dress better and be able to express themselves more.”
Customers are attracted to the individuality of the products as well as the aesthetic, Awad said.
“You walk into the room with a vintage shirt, and you’re probably the only one in the room with that shirt,” Awad said. “And a lot of people nowadays, that’s what they care about. They want to be different.”
Silas Austria, a frequent thrift store shopper, went to the Thrifted Threads grand opening with a group of friends who heard about the store’s debut on Instagram.
“I’ve found a lot of good stuff [at thrift stores], so I’m interested to see how this one pans out,” Austria said. “I’m super excited to get some clothes.”
Austria was surprised by the large turnout at the store opening, but had concerns that the crowds may mean marked-up prices because of limited inventory. Despite this, Austria acknowledged that thrift shopping can bring individuality to one’s wardrobe.
“Thrift shopping to me — it’s cost-effective, it’s good for the environment and you can find some unique clothing, never seen before things, not everything that other people wear,” Austria said.
Kinesiology senior Adalyn Cable and English and history senior Kacey Heitschmidt attended the Thrifted Threads grand opening together.
“It’s like a fun hobby, you go with your friends, it’s like a social thing as well as actually helpful,” Heitschmidt said. “It’s shopping, but also affordable and fun.”
Cable and Heitschmidt said they chose to go thrift shopping because of the affordable and fashionable clothes, but also for the distinctiveness of the products.
“It’s not mass produced, I know obviously some of it was at some point, [but] I know I’m not buying things that everybody else is going to have necessarily,” Cable said.
Thrifted Threads is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.