By Madison Ford
Entertainment Editor

Sometimes, shopping takes a leap of faith. However, for some Coppell High School students, this journey outside the typical consumer comfort zone reaps numerous rewards. This desire for a unique shopping experience is what lands them in thrift stores and they boast that they come away from it with memories, original purchases and significantly more change in their pockets.

Coppell is surrounded by thrift store shopping options. No matter which direction you go, you are more than likely to stumble upon a vintage or resale shop boasting great buys and cheap prices. Some students are taking advantage of these shopping opportunities and in the process, falling in love with the thrift shop experience.

“I can buy more clothes for less money [at thrift stores] and get more unique stuff, no one else is going to have whatever you are wearing,” senior Michelle Bizzell said. “In department stores it’s like, ‘look, here’s a bunch of black clothes,’ and that’s nice, but [at thrift stores] it’s like ‘look at this hideous dress, who wore that?’ You can imagine those used to be somebody’s. Why did they buy that? Did they like it in the 80s or the 90s? Was this in? Did they know it was ugly? Was it a gift? [The experience is] so much more interesting.”

To senior and frequent thrift store shopper Lexus Deloach, these shops can serve as a time machine to experiences gone by.

“It’s so cool because every single clothing item has a story behind it,” Deloach said. “It once belonged to someone else. I am recycling and reusing clothing, which is kind of cool. It is like I’m just writing my own chapter into the clothes.”

The items available for purchase in thrift stores, while often the triggers of reflection, include such a range of categories that a wide variety of shoppers with differing purchasing objectives can find an item that fits their needs. From furniture to retro-wear, casual clothing to board games, as well as a seemingly inexhaustible supply of accessories or trinkets, thrift stores can comply with the most sporadic of shoppers. That is, if they know where to go.

“There is a really good Salvation Army store in down town Dallas and its right near Highland Park, so they have a boutique section which has a lot of designer stuff and fur coats and stuff that people from highland park have donated,” Bizzell said. “Some stores just have more clothing. Like Thrift City probably has the most clothing and the Goodwill, and the CCA don’t have that much. Once you go, you’ll figure that out. [For instance] if you want a board game, definitely [go to] CCA. Some [stores] will have big items, like DVD players and stuff, where some will have mostly little things.”

Even on the search for clothes, different shops specialize in different items. Seasoned thrift store shoppers have come to know which stores in the area will yield the best results for finding certain pieces.

“If I’m just looking for T-shirts or sweaters or something I’ll go to Thrift World, but if I’m looking for, let’s say my homecoming dress, I went to a place in Dallas called Clothes Horse Anonymous, and that’s probably my favorite place to get dresses,” Deloach said. “And jeans and shirts and stuff, it would probably be Buffalo Exchange. It depends on what I’m looking for.”

One of thrift stores’ large selling points are their lower price tags. This can entice even those who prefer mainline shopping to frequent these resale shops.

“I probably prefer shopping at chain stores, but if I’m low on money, then I’ll obviously go to a thrift store,” senior Liz Meyer said.

The financial upside of thrift stores is twofold in some instances. These stores provide many who are in tight financial situations a more affordable option for obtaining clothing. Some resale shops, such as CCA, Goodwill and the Salvation Army, even use their revenue give back to the needy.

Senior Carolyn Mason not only sees the charitable paybacks of thrift store shopping, but the creative opportunities it offers as well.

“I’ve gotten stuff for art projects and engineering projects, once made my mom a paper towel roll,” Mason said. “It was wooden and I sanded it down and wood burned it. I guess it’s inspiring. They’ve got a wide variety of stuff and it’s cheap so you can do a lot of fun crafty experimental things. And it benefits the needy.”

Mason even found a way to bring thrift store shopping into a CHS tradition.

“I got my senior overalls for $2.50 [at a thrift store],” Mason said.

Another plus of this uncommon way of shopping is the unique “finds” one can take away from it.

“Sometimes I buy gifts for friends because they have a lot of weird stuff that people don’t want,” senior Christina Wagner said. “And they have funny shirts, because people don’t want them, so they’ll say funny things. I got a shirt that says bar mitzvah on it. So now I have somebody’s bar mitzvah shirt.”

A visit to one of these establishments may even provide the buyer with a bargain rare of superstores and high-end boutiques. Deloach had such an experience when searching for a homecoming dress.

“I got a brand new Betsey Johnson dress at my thrift store for 100 bucks [at Clothes Horse Anonymous], which is cheap,” Deloach said. “And it was brand new really. I am so obsessed with my dress, it was black and puffy and so just my kind of dress.”

The bond students have made while thrift store shopping are reminisced on fondly. A simple trip has left many with lasting memories with friends.

“There is a hat that my friends and I all bought. We all got matching hats that say ‘Pack 59’ or something,” Wagner said. “It’s for some boy scout troop in like Georgia, and I guess they had a whole bunch of hat so they donated them. So we all have matching pack hats.”

To those wary of taking the plunge into the thrifting world, one CHS shopper urges them to consider this.

“Instead of a shopping trip, it’s a shopping experience,” Bizzell.