Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen.
Hi Karen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Growing up, my family didn’t have alot of extra money to provide us with trendy clothing. My mother gave up a lot to move to America in her adulthood. Being the youngest of 3 brothers, I often received hand me downs. Unfortunately, my older brother’s clothing wasn’t the most fashionable for a young girl, haha. My mother did her best at trying to sew me dresses and other clothing. As I grew older and reached my adolescent years, I found myself being more interested in being stylish and wanting to follow along more with what was fashionable among my schoolmates at that time. My mother and I often shopped discount stores and donation centers. I loved being able to sort through all of the clothes and create cute outfits. It felt like such a treasure hunt! I instantly felt this excitement whenever I found a certain brand or certain item. Since then, I’ve been a chaser of great deals! I have loved the hunt of searching online for favorite items and paying less!—or physically scouring the aisles of thrift stores.
Initially, I enjoyed 13 years of being in the medical field as a dental hygienist, but as little ones entered my life, I was seeking something new and more flexible on my time. Lo and behold, one night, as I was shopping at one of my favorite thrift stores, I noticed a “for sale” sign on the door. Inquiry led to me purchasing it and the rest is history!
Since then, I have absolutely loved filling my store with trendy deals for less and passing down that fiery feeling to other young kids (and adults) of being able to afford more clothes for less. Sometimes, it’s hard to make ends meet and keep up on everything all at once. I absolutely love providing a place where young kids and families can come to shop, save their money for other things In Life while also still having those sought after cute styles of clothing. I love having an avenue that provides affordable clothing without sacrificing style— something that makes keeping up with seemingly expensive trends possible instead of something you feel like you have to sacrifice or go without bc of high costs. Plus, to this day, I still enjoy the hunt!
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?
For the most part, it has been so rewarding. Getting to live a hobby everyday is super fun. I love working with this age group of employees (teenagers) and being part of their journey towards adulthood. It is so fun to see them become who they’re going to be someday right infront of my eyes. It often feels like a little family. It has definitely been hard at times— owning an entire store means you never really quit working. There’s always something more you need to do or check on. There are always extra things coming up constantly. There’s the financial side of keeping a business running and profitable and there’s also the management side of juggling the needs and training of two dozen teen employees. There’s just never a dull moment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Platos Closet Draper?
Platos Closet is so multi-faceted. Not only do we sell clothing but we also have the entire dynamic of also buying our inventory in from the local public which creates this entire two-tier process that’s constantly turning. It really helps the people in our community 1) recycle clothing instead of throwing it away and adding to landfills 2) provides cash on the spot to our local sellers 3) provides a second chance for great items to our customers. We both buy and sell clothing. I’m proud of the fact that we are a small piece of eliminating extra waste.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
When people donate their clothing that doesn’t get bought in to our store, we donate it all to charities and good causes: Utah Foster Care, Big Brother Big Sister, Fire Victims. We always send clothing to those in need as much as we can.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Thriftutah.com
- Instagram: @platosclosetdraper
