Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrigo Juarez
Hi Rodrigo, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was working at a thrift store for about a year and I noticed that pre owned clothing had a lot of potential as a business. I started my business in January 2021 with my dad. The first year was obviously very hard. I struggled to pay my bills but we continued to buy pre owned clothing from my main supplier. The challenging thing was that I didn’t have anywhere to sell my inventory. I started to sell my clothing at a yard sale in salt lake close to Capitol Hill, people really enjoyed it. We did that for about 2 summers. We grew little by little. Our 3rd summer the city refused to renew my permit because of complaints brought by the residents of the neighborhood, they said it caused too much traffic but we noticed that a lot of people liked my stuff and we also noticed that people started to recognize me. I made a lot of connections at those yard sales. I met a few vintage clothing business owners. They said they were interested in my inventory and we started to work with them, some were consignment while others paid upfront. I was doing that for a while. I also met online resellers. At one of my yard sales I met a local YouTuber who makes thrifting videos, and she made a video at the yard sale and after that I had a lot of demand and my business exploded. I had people from different states coming to the yard sales. But I still didn’t have a warehouse or a retail location, I was working out of my storage units. I worked during crazy weather but I knew that one day I would have a warehouse to expand my business. There was a point where I was in my comfort zone until the manager at my storage unit didn’t allow me to continue doing business at the units. I said to myself “now what?” I had some savings so I started looking for a commercial building and eventually found a place. I signed the lease December 31st 2024 and opened the doors to my business January 31st 2025. Now we’re still doing business with private buyers, resellers, and now our community. We are open Friday and Saturday and during the week are those private appointments. Apart from vintage clothing we’re also selling trendy mall brands, shoes, bags, and accessories. We also donate a lot of clothing to local non profit donations. Our main goal is to give our clothing a second chance.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it was not a smooth road. Some struggles I had were that I didn’t have enough sales or a location to do business. I was working outside in crazy weather sorting bags of inventory. There were consequences to working in extreme weather, two summers ago I had a heat stroke from working in the heat for a long time.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I sell preselected clothing for 5/LB. We work with private buyers and we supply vintage inventory. I also work with eBay resellers. Something I’m most proud of is helping the earth/environment in prevent from further waste of clothing and giving clothes and shoes a second chance. I’m also proud of other business owners who make a living with my inventory.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can support, not just me but the community, by purchasing pre owned clothes from local thrift stores. My goal in this business is to grow the wholesale industry and export clothing around the world so I can provide people from other countries a basic need, like clothing and shoes.
Pricing:
- Clothing: 5/LB
- Shoes: $3-8
- Bags: $4-12
- Hats and belts: $3-6
- Scarves: $3-5
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommy_bins_thrift/
