Member Spotlight
Big Top Vintage
Big Top Vintage is clothing store in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia that sells vintage clothes for adults and children. They also organize the Richmond Street Flea, a curated monthly market during the warmer months with a wide variety of goods from secondhand resellers and local artisans.
Why did you become a Circular Philadelphia member?
Because they are expanding to open a reseller sector and I’ve never heard of an initiative anything like it and I think its very exciting!
What does a circular economy mean to your organization?
As resellers, circularity is at the absolute core of how our business model operates. We resell clothing and housewares that have been recirculated, or discarded completely. Our job is to source goods with a curatorial eye to what our customer base is looking for. They kind of clothes they want to wear, things for their homes that bring them joy. The kind of things we sell are, by and large, mass produced products our customers could get new. But because they practice ethical and sustainable buying, or simply because they want something unique and one of a kind they choose to look for them here or with other curated vintage resell businesses. Our customers dedication to circularity and a circular economy is crucial to what we do and how we operate.
How is your organization practicing circularity?
In our shop we primarily stock a curated selection of vintage clothing. We source items in a variety of ways, but for the most part, we get our hands on something at its last stop before landfill. This includes shopping by the pound excess from thrift conglomerates who purge sitting stock, doing house clean outs and private estate vista, and buying direct from our community members and customer base. Quality items, that are well taken care of have a longevity far superior to fast fashion, which is the leading cause of our rapidly growing textile waste output. Recycling and expanding the life cycle of goods I think is the way we practice circularity in our business.
How can others advance the circular economy?
Stop buying new when you can buy used. Build your wardrobe with intention. If it will break or rip, its not worth buying. Stop buying fast fashion. Mend the hole in your shirt instead of throwing it away. Learn to sew. Find a cobbler and a tailor in your neighborhood.