If you pass by 820 N. 743 E. on a Friday or Saturday night in Provo, you’ll see a sign right by Brooker’s Founding Flavors that says, “we are open” and “come up the stairs.” If you walk up the stairs, you’ll be greeted with “what’s up how you doing, welcome to Sad Boi Thrift.”
Sad Boi Thrift is growing within the student community and bringing back the new old to the closets in Provo — especially after their grand opening, Nov. 6 – 7, 2020.
Lex Maynez, Sad Boi Thrift founder, is a Brigham Young University student studying communication studies with a minor in business. He works a daytime job as a Missionary Training Center security guard, and on top of that invests 10 – 15 hours per week on his growing business.
“I had about $30 in my bank account,” said Maynez. “That’s what motivated me to start selling this clothing.”
Maynez said they averaged 100 – 150 people just on Friday during the first day of their grand opening — this success came with a lot of hard work and a few hiccups along the way.
The young entrepreneur’s sublease in a barbershop on Center Street didn’t work out earlier this year. Maynez said that “both sides” decided it would be best to go their “separate ways.”
“We had our grand opening and grand closing the same day, it was insane,” explained Maynez, chuckling. “We were homeless for around two months.”
Now, Sad Boi Thrift is open and thriving. John Stormberg, a BYU student, stopped by the new shop on Friday night.
“We just live down the street, so we decided to swing on by,” stated Stormberg. “Very cheap, good price, glad to have it so close by.”
If you follow Sad Boi Thrift on Instagram, you’ll notice they use the word “drip”; that’s the term they use for their clothing, which they collect from states in the West. From Adidas and Nike wear, to denim 90’s jackets and yellow Tommy Hilfiger jackets, you never know what you’ll find.
With an iconic name (which Maynez said comes from an inside joke), iconic logo, interactive Instagram account and Sad Boi screensavers, it’s looking like the new business has a bright future ahead.
Even though Maynez doesn’t have “one set path” that he wants to go with Sad Boi Thrift, he said it would be fun to set up “local thrift stores at different college campuses.”
“Ideally I would love to save up money for my future career goals, as in go into law school,” said Maynez. “We’ll see what happens, I’m optimistic about it.”
