When you donate the dress you wore to your cousin’s wedding, Paula DeCharme finds a way to reuse it. She might sell it in her thrift store or recycle it.
“Recycling is what we’re about first,” DeCharme said. “We’re reducing our carbon footprint.”
In 2009, DeCharme’s business, Suncoast Textile Recycling (Suncoast), kept 5 million pounds of clothing out of landfills. She said she does it “to save a piece of Florida.”
Suncoast collects discarded clothing from 200 locations around Florida including other thrift stores and churches. Suncoast also has donation boxes in several locations throughout St. Petersburg.
Suncoast has eight trucks that pickup clothing from Gainesville to Punta Gorda and over to Vero and Daytona Beaches. DeCharme pays about 5 cents a pound for the surplus goods. Last year she paid almost $500,000 for recycled textiles.
“What one store throws away might be good for another area,” DeCharme said.
The trucks take the collected items to the Dome District warehouse. The warehouse is split into two businesses. Suncoast is in the back of the building; South Side Thrift Store is in the front.
“Behind the blue doors is controlled chaos,” DeCharme said as she walks from the thrift store to the recycling side of the warehouse.
Piles of clothing in garbage bags are stacked to the left. In front, thousand-pound bales of clothing are piled for shipping. Employees fill the compressors with clothing. Next to the compression room is a workshop. Suncoast builds its donation boxes on premises. In a separate room, another employee, Amanda Stover, pairs shoes and sorts through belts and purses to ensure quality.
“It’s an easy work environment,” Stover said while she paired shoes.
DeCharme won’t sell or ship an item that isn’t reusable. Her staff pulls damaged clothing and shoes from the piles.
“Don’t send something that isn’t wearable,” DeCharme said. “Respect where you’re sending the clothes.”
Once the clothing is baled and ready to be shipped, DeCharme sells it to brokers in Miami, Houston and Atlanta. The broker’s ship bales overseas to countries like Haiti, Pakistan and India.
DeCharme places her donation boxes in convenient host neighborhood locations. She gives 25 percent of the collected clothing to the Pinellas County Homeless Coalition. The host location also gets 25 percent. DeCharme takes the rest. What she can’t sell in the thrift store gets compressed and shipped overseas.
DeCharme and her employees search the boxes for “rags” and “credentials.” Rags are single items of clothing like a T-shirt or a pair of pants. Credentials are an entire outfit, sometimes with shoes and accessories. Credentials are sold in the thrift store.
***
South Side Thrift Store was born of Suncoast Textile Recycling. Paula DeCharme had the warehouse space and plenty of clothing. She opened June 1, 2009.
Sales keep the store busy for most of the week. Every other Wednesday all regular men and women’s clothing costs $1. On Friday, boutique items are 70 percent off. The store inventory is 50 percent off on Saturday.
“It’s like a party all day,” DeCharme said of $1 Wednesdays. “Everyone knows everyone; they’re having a good time socializing.”
Boutique items are purchased from department stores like Bealls and Macys. If a unique item gets donated, it immediately goes in the boutique section as well.
South Side mostly carries clothes. The spacious children’s section has clothing, toys, books and stuffed animals.
“Stuffed animals had a life (before they got here),” DeCharme said. “I want to give them another life.”
The store also has some household items: linens, books, small appliances, and flatware. South Side does not carry furniture.
DeCharme tries to keep the prices affordable to the area. She said she feels welcome in Midtown. Word of mouth advertising has been good for business.
“I want to see an item go to its next home,” DeCharme said. “I tend to price the item lower so it goes home. The neighborhood has been wonderful and supportive.
