Shwop — Local services in Portland

As far as I know there is not another store like this...at least not anywhere I've traveled to or lived and I travel a lot and have lived in 5 different states. Where else can you pay $35 for 30 days and during those 30 days you can bring up to 20 items in at a time to swap them with 20 new (to you) things?? This awesome gem takes second hand shopping to a whole other level! I literally exchanged sixty...6-0 pieces of clothing in 30 days for THIRTY-FIVE DOLLLLLARS? SERIOUSLY. Where else can you do that? I went from being a redhead for 6 years to blonde and my wardrobe didn't make sense with my dramatic makeover so I had to get new clothes. When I found out about this place I thought I had found the fashion lotto, I'm not kidding! The best part about those 30 days was that each time I went back there was brand new stuff because people are constantly shopping and swapping! As a huge lover of fashion, this place quickly became this fun new adventure for me, especially while I was adjusting to my new look. Not only that, but the owner Marci is just about the coolest, kindest and most down to Earth soul you'll ever meet! Though we bonded INSTANTLY because she is so fun and easy to talk to, what touched me the most about her was her heart. While I was there one time shwopping I overheard her talking to someone when I was in the dressing room. When I came out I saw her taking the wet clothes from a very rained on homeless man and throwing them in the dryer for him. Then I watched her give him several pairs of socks as she put his phone on a charger while he went into the dressing room to put on dry clothes. But what made my heart truly melt was when he offered her money and she told him there was no charge. I thought, is she for real??? She was. What Marci does for her community and family members is just amazing. I will never be able to say enough about this special, wonderful, magickal place or the happiness that I feel every time I am there. It is WAY more than a cool recycled clothing store. It's like this cool place to hang out and talk about EVERYTHING with a bunch of cool people. And the new location in Sellwood is most excellent! Lots of other fun things to do nearby as well in this CHARMING neighborhood of Sellwood, like Stars antiques, also lots of coffee shops and excellent restaurants and I'm quite fond of the fun little local shops. I highly recommend making a day of it! If I could rate this shop with more than 5 stars, I would. If you want to shop and support local, Shwop is the...

What can I say? I have been a "Lifetime" member of Shwop for the better part of a decade. It is the primary (and often only) place I go to refresh my wardrobe and has fundamentally changed my approach to purchasing, using, and saving clothing as a whole! I have long been a lover of "new" clothes, but never needed them to be off the rack at the mall new... just new to me. The challenge is, keeping that habit under control and living within my means. Add to that changing weight, seasonal changes, and styles changing as you grow older... the need for new clothing is unending, and eventually I just lived with what I had even if it was a decade old. I found Shwop a few years after I had my daughter and was in flux with my weight and shape. Being able to take things home, try them on, use them for a while and return them, salved my guilt of spending endless income on something I might wear once, or need for a special occasion, only to have it drift to the back of my closet, never to be seen again. For more standard wardrobe pieces, I find their quality of clothing as well as diversity of options, well beyond that of what you would find in a normal thrift store. Things are clean, well-maintained, and kept neatly on the racks.

Lastly, you will not find another shop-owner around who does as much for the community as Marci Pelletier does. She works with non-profits like LoveOne who help people trying to get back on their feet and out into the work force find professional clothing. Sisters of the Road who helps battered women and their families find safety and restart their lives. There are more on the list, but sufficed to say, she gives back to the community and those around her selflessly to make Portland a better place for all of us, and I would support her...

This place is such a genius idea. You pay a monthly membership fee. You can bring in items and exchange for other items. No they don't have to be the same, like dress for a dress, or the same value. This place has been great for finding seasonal items ( snow boots, rain coat, swim suits) and it's awesome for my growing kids. Before I do a big shopping trip to get them all new shirts I swing by Shwop to see if I can get all the things I need. With the kids always out growing things and seasons changing I always have stuff to bring in. And it's not just clothes. Household items, jewelry, art work, books.

My only suggestion or caution would be, the kids clothes is kind of hard to access. If you have a good helper kiddo, they probably won't mind digging through the bins to find treasures. But it's not displayed like the men's and women's clothing. So it definitely takes more time to see if there is anything that would work for your kids.

This place has been gold to me especially when I was always gaining weight and then losing weight. Just take in the too smalls or too bigs and exchange for something that...