Thrifting is a budget-friendly way to update your wardrobe — two sisters came up with the idea for a new thrift store designed with a twist.
Revibe Thrift Swap is a place where customers can trade out their old clothes for new ones. Mariah Rigby, co-founder of Revibe, remembered the conversation she had with her sister when the idea was born.
“We were like, what if you could buy new clothes with your old clothes?” Mariah Rigby said. “What if you could use your clothes as a currency?”
Ashley Rigby, founder of Revibe, came up with the idea for the store after a hard time where she wanted to become a new person.
“We’re all changing as people, and so our closets should reflect that,” Ashley Rigby said. “What’s cool about this Revibe is it’s not just swapping anything for anything. You get to swap for clothes of similar value, so you’re never losing money, essentially.”
From shoes to shirts to hats, items are ranked in a three-category system.
“If you bring in three basic items, you have three basic swaps, or in other words, three blue items,” Mariah Rigby said. “So, go into our store and pick out any three blue items you want.”
Frequent visitors at Revibe can save their opportunities to swap for later visits.
Items that customers buy through normal thrift shopping are more expensive than they would be to just swap because the business wants to encourage sustainability, Ashley Rigby said.
The sisters started thrifting at a very young age. Clothing had always been a way they expressed themselves.
“Once I started thrifting, I found out what my style was, not what someone else’s was, and from there it grew my confidence even more in who I want to be and what I want people to see when they see me,” Mariah Rigby said.
Customers describe the experience as having a “great vibe.” Jason Ballard, a customer at Revibe and thrifting enthusiast, enjoys finding unique items that he can style in his own way.
“I think it was Macklemore that said one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Ballard said.
The sisters never believed starting a business was in their future.
“We just had an idea. Like, that’s all it was,” Mariah Rigby said. “It was one day. We saw a problem, and we had an idea, and now we’re standing in a store full of clothes, about to open.”
The sisters believe their business could grow to influence a wide audience. A big part of their business is their goal to promote sustainability and accessibility, Ashley Rigby said.
“Fast fashion is a big problem right now,” Ashley Rigby said. “Every person, in a year, 85% of their clothes goes to a landfill. And so, if we can try to do a little bit better with the world that we’re living in, then I think we can all be a bit more proud of the way we’re living.”
Mariah and Ashley Rigby said they plan to keep monthly pop-up shops at iHub going for now as customers continue to respond enthusiastically.