Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ video, “Thrift Shop,” had 679,334,319 views on YouTube as of March 29. Since the release of the song, thrift shopping has gained immense traction. However, students at Lick-Wilmerding have been thrift shopping long before the success of the hit song.

Dusty floors, fluorescent lights, and loosely-organized aisles filled with unique finds — this is what many in the Lick community, students and teachers alike, call a fashion haven. This is also what many refer to as a “thrift store.”

Thrift stores are retail establishments that sell second- hand items (clothing, home goods, or others) that have been sold or donated to the store. Many thrift stores are social enterprises, meaning that they are retail establishments operated by charities for the purpose of fundraising. Because the items they sell are donated by the public, the goods are marked well below retail prices. After all costs are paid to maintain the store, the remaining income from the sales is often donated to local charities.

Community Thrift, for example, is an “independent and non- discriminatory establishment, and when you donate to us you can pick your favorite charity,” according to their website. The store works with over 200 Bay Area charities.

Lick-Wilmerding, and San Francisco in general, is teeming with connoisseurs of thrift culture.

Avid thrifter, Amelia Levin- Sheffield ’17, says, “I began thrifting when I moved to San Francisco, at the beginning of freshman year, about a year and a half ago. I lived in Sonoma County before, and when I moved to San Francisco, I explored the Mission. I loved the thrift shops there. San Francisco is one of the few places that has very hip stores; at my previous city, thrift shops were not a cool thing.”

Manager of Academic Information Systems and Registrar Kelleigh Trowbridge explains that she started thrifting when she moved to San Francisco when she was 18 years old.

Another Lick thrift store favorite is Thrift Town, which calls itself a “First-Class Secondhand Store.” The business is committed to making a difference everyday, stressing the importance of community, charity partners, customers, and crew members. Across its fourteen locations, Thrift Town purchases over 50 tons of clothing every day, totaling over 40 million pounds of items that would otherwise end up in landfills. They recycle or donate the items they do not sell to developing countries around the globe.

By purchasing all merchandise from local nonprofit partners to raise money for charities, Thrift  Town has helped raise over $240 million since 1972. They seek to benefit nonprofit organizations that provide real benefits to the community. A grassroots philosophy still holds true in the business today, as an employee stated that, “What the company stands for and the customers who come to shop for are admirable.”