Feel good, look good, do good—that’s the general concept behind Thrift 2 Fight, and one of the reasons why readers chose the thrift store as the Chronogrammies winner of the Men’s Shop category and second-place in the Vintage category.
At this Tivoli shop and community space, you’ll find great deals on a variety of gently used clothes from a range of styles and decades. That covers the “thrift” portion of their name; the “fight” part, however, refers to the social justice organizations that a percentage of all the shop’s sales go toward. “It’s a thrift store and a movement,” says Masha Zabara, who co-owns the shop with Jillian Reed. “It’s a place where people of all backgrounds can shop, rejoice, and support organizations at the intersection of social, disability, and queer justice.”
Ten percent of every purchase goes to a researched grassroots organization. Although the store has only been open since January 2023, the pair began doing pop-up thrift sales in June 2020—since then, they’ve raised around $70,0000 for various organizations like Trans Closet of the Hudson Valley and Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP).
“We started a series of pop-ups during the pandemic that were mainly porch and lawn sales around the Hudson Valley where 100 percent of purchases were donated,” Reed explains. “It was a funding mechanism available to us at a time when the other ways of participating in social justice movements during the pandemic were less possible—we didn’t have a ton of money to donate or the ability to travel to protests.”
The pop-ups allowed them to get together with like-minded folks and raise funds by selling clothes they weren’t wearing. “Now, we’re able to offer a year-round shop, plus community space to host events like film screenings, art shows, clothing swaps, and more,” she notes. “And our range of clothing is as diverse as the community that comes in.”
At the shop, you’ll find everyday basics like jeans and tees, as well as two racks of designer clothes and some special-occasion wear. Most garments cost between $10 and $20, but there’s an $8 room with hidden gems. “We do have a large selection of clothes traditionally marketed to men, although we carry items for all genders, all backgrounds,” Zabara says. “But we’re also giving people tools to raise money and awareness in a joyful way.”
This article appears in July 2023.
