With its idyllic location at 5th Street Market between two popular Eugene hotels and just a short distance from the University of Oregon, The Racks has been full of eager customers and vintage lovers since their opening in June.
Store owners Allyssa Corpuz and Dylan Harloff opened The Racks together and have been dating for seven and a half years. The pair moved to Eugene in 2022 where Corpuz began to pursue her studies in architecture at University of Oregon and is now in her final year.
Corpuz and Harloff started their vintage reseller journey on Depop in 2020, not expecting any of the vast growth that has come since. During this time, thrift stores had prohibited trying on and returning items, making shopping second hand infinitely more difficult.
Both Corpuz and Harloff had lost their jobs due to Covid and began listing their thrifted clothes that didn’t fit on Depop, making fast sales and expanding their brand quickly. In November of 2021, the pair took their newfound passion for selling vintage clothes to markets in Portland. In 2022, Corpuz and Harloff began selling their items outside of the EMU on the University of Oregon campus; every once in a while at first, then weekly.
The EMU provided an ideal setting for a business like theirs to thrive. Its centralized location on campus allowed a massive amount of exposure to the students. They also enjoyed being able to bring the second hand clothing experience to people that may not have the time to sort through thrift stores on their own. By reselling the pieces they find, Corpuz and Harloff eliminate the bulk of the process included in obtaining thrifted clothes, giving people access to fashionable second hand clothing who may not have had it otherwise.
“Going thrifting is hard. To find good stuff you have to go through every single rack and it takes like three hours at one store to go through everything and not a lot of people have that time,” Corpuz said. “You can come here instead and spend thirty minutes and find exactly what you want.”
After they had success at the EMU, Corpuz and Harloff continued to expand their business, attending different markets and doing frequent pop-up events. The EMU pop-ups were always extremely popular and successful; students were consistently eager to see the well-known and loved pair selling their finds and began asking them if they had a storefront. Corpuz and Harloff had been to over 100 markets and seen stores similar to The Racks in Portland but none in Eugene, so they decided to create their own space for the Eugene community. Having a storefront allowed them to sell in Eugene during the entire year rather than only during the academic calendar, and has also given Corpuz and Harloff an opportunity to meet and connect with Eugene locals that they likely wouldn’t have otherwise met.
Not only is The Racks student run and owned, it was also built and designed entirely by UO architecture students. When it came time to design their new storefront, Corpuz posted an inquiry on her social media for architecture students to participate in the construction. She put together a team of UO students to make the store come to life and even drew the blueprint and plans for the construction herself. With its expressive and colorful design, the store has an eclectic and modern feel to it, appearing as if it was entirely designed by seasoned professionals.
Sustainability and slow fashion is one of The Rack’s main goals as a store; they strive to spread to the community how important it is to shop second hand. Fashion is a major waste contributor, especially with the turnover of fads and trends.
“Buying second hand is so important now because of climate change and how bad waste is in general. The fast fashion industry has been ruining our earth with millions of clothes getting thrown in landfills every day,” Corpuz said.
If vintage clothing isn’t your style, The Racks also sells items in store from over 32 small businesses including reworked vintage items, jewelry, crocheted clothing, crocheted accessories and trinkets. Corpuz and Harloff have many friends with handmade small businesses and wanted to give handmakers like them a safe space to sell their products and spread their name.
“I love their stuff but I think there’s not as much opportunity for them to sell, especially compared to vintage vendors, so I wanted to give them their own handmade section in our store so that people can get their name out there,” Corpuz said.
Along with hosting other vintage reselling vendors in store, Corpuz and Harloff continue sourcing for clothes and accessories on their own. Sorting through garage sales, thrift stores and estate sales is one of their favorite things to do, discovering items like hidden treasure and seeing discarded clothes with a new perspective.
“You get to live in people’s past times,” Harloff said. “knowing they got this from somewhere in their life and now I’m finding it here.”
Another one of The Racks’ unique aspects is their dedication to making vintage and second hand clothing accessible to everyone, which they do by keeping their prices affordable and relative to the item’s value, with higher priced items solely consisting of rare or designer pieces.
A common trend nationwide among vintage and second hand resellers is to price basic and easily found items at extreme costs to increase profit, which decreases the accessibility of second hand fashion to people with lower budgets, especially students who are navigating new bills and costs. During their pop-up sales at the EMU, Corpuz and Harloff made a pact to keep their items below $30 with the intention of catering to college students and their needs.
“College is the time to find your own fashion; you’re living alone and experimenting,” Harloff said. “Making clothes accessible and affordable… that’s the one thing we try to hold ourselves to.”
Corpuz was interested in clothes and finding her style in high school, but the start of college was really when her journey with fashion began. Rather than confining herself to one aesthetic, Corpuz likes to incorporate bits of different trends and aesthetics to create her own style, emphasizing the versatility and malleability of fashion. Her favorite eras of fashion are the ‘90s and y2k styles, especially brands like Juicy Couture and Baby Phat.
Harloff’s interest in fashion began after moving to Eugene, recalling his high school style as a baseball player that usually wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. Once Corpuz started thrifting and selling more, Harloff began to find pieces that he liked and began sharing the passion for building his own style and searching for second hand fashion.
“If you look good you feel good, you know?” Harloff said.
His vintage favorites include the old Looney Tunes graphics, mens y2k fashion and brands like JNCO, Southpole, Ed Hardy and Paco.
Open seven days a week, The Racks has been gaining more and more customers every day. Corpuz and Harloff are excited to share their new storefront with the returning and incoming students this fall and plan on continuing to host pop-up sales at the EMU on campus throughout the academic year. In the meantime, they are dedicated to fostering a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience that is quickly becoming a staple in the community. With their passion for second hand fashion and connection to the student and small business communities, The Racks continues to thrive as a place for people to find their unique styles.