Who loves to thrift shop? UpShift has created a whole new wave of thrift shopping called upcycling.  It’s all about reusing, recycling, and renewing your wardrobe. UpShift is a clothing exchange boutique, exclusive to Madison, and 100% sustainable by the customers who exchange their clothing.

Owner Lindsay Leno, started UpShift in 2009. Prior to opening, Leno was a fashion designer for seven years and experienced the waste of the fashion industry from the garments made and thrown away, to the way finished garments are wrapped in plastic and shipped off.

She knew she couldn’t change the fashion industry as a whole, but individually she could still stay in the industry and make a difference. Her new idea was UpShift, where she could cut out the middle man and create a business where her customers could sustain the business and share the same interest.

UpShift works like this:  Bring in a bag of clothes you don’t want anymore.  Pay $20 for the exchange of three bags or less, and then fill your bag with any new clothes found in the boutique.

While you shop, you’ll find that there are no price tags to be found, because your purchase is whatever fits in your bag. The store is always changing with new merchandise, so you can always find something new. It is a laid back environment that keeps people coming back for more.

Many customers like to put things on hold for a week until they are ready to exchange. This allows you to find new treasures the next time you come in.  Upshift accepts gently used items of high or low quality, between the sizes of 0-14, accessories, jewelry, shoes, and soft goods like scarves, hats, and bags.

UpShift is an all-women’s apparel clothing store. In the future, UpShift hopes to open five more stores: plus, kids, men’s, and maternity. To reach other markets, UpShift is working on developing an online shipping option where a stylist picks out items based on a customer’s personal style and ship the garments to them.

Because UpShift is sustained by its customers alone, check out the boutique for yourself. UpShift is located at 836 East Johnson St. Madison, Wisconsin. Summer hours for Upshift are Monday through Friday, noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

If you want to learn more about UpShift, visit their website at http://up-shift.webs.com/ and its blog  at http://upshiftgear.blogspot.com/. Also, like UpShift on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Upshiftgear to find out about events and promotions.

We are lucky to have this unique business in our community, and I hope we can sustain it for a long time.