CAZENOVIA — On April 20, Cazenovia High School (CHS) debuted its new student thrift store, the Laker Locker, with a small ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Located in room 260 on the high school’s second floor, the “thrift store” does not operate as a store in the traditional sense, as all items, including clothes, shoes, hygiene items, school supplies, and food, are free.
Student shoppers do, however, get the experience of being checked out by the store’s workers, who track the inventory and package items in specially branded Laker Locker bags.
In addition to perusing the store’s offerings, students are encouraged to go through their own closets and homes and bring in items that are in good condition and that other people might be able to use.
The idea was based on a model adopted by several other local high schools, including Chittenango and Fabius Pompey.
“We toured Chittenango’s store, the Bear Den, last spring and were inspired by their model,” said Marla Reger, Cazenovia Central School District’s mental health coordinator and one of the Laker Locker facilitators. “Our framework is based on the idea of ‘upcycling’ our resources and taking an environmentally friendly approach when it comes to reusing/recycling goods. Students love thrifting and we want to encourage access for all students — no stigma, just sharing what we no longer use instead of creating waste. . . We opened the store on April 20, the same week as Earth Day, to align with our mission of sharing our resources with each other and supporting all members of our Cazenovia School Community.”
According to Reger, the high school’s room 260 borders the middle school, enabling the younger students to access the store as well. The plan is to eventually expand access to Burton Street Elementary School students.
On opening day, numerous students stopped by to check out the space, and 450 items were given away, Reger said.
The store has been staffed primarily by students, including Miriam Moskovich, Makennah Garrow, Molly Wilcox, Casey Felton, and Garrett Lounsbury, who have all been particularly active in the initiative.
“My mom works at Chittenango, so I have heard about this idea of a free thrift store for a while,” said Wilcox. “When I heard we were starting the same in Caz, I was very interested in helping out. I have helped [with] decorating and organizing the store. I am also running an Instagram, @cazlakerlocker, for the store in order to share and promote this store to all students.”
According to Reger, the initiative has been a collaboration between Cazenovia staff, students, and community members, who have all dedicated their time and efforts to creating the student shopping space.
Reger specifically recognized the students in CHS’s work-based learning, accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, and teachers for tomorrow classes; Future Farmers of America students for helping to set up racks; staff members Christina New, Christie Brenneck, Kathy Hudson, Bobbey McCarthy, Sara McDowell, Maggie Dougherty, and Mandi Millen; Gigi Redmond, Casey Frazee, and Erin Kelly at CazCares food pantry and clothing closet for helping with start-up supplies, racks, and food; and local families and parent–teacher associations for their donations.
Laker Locker is currently accepting donations of new and like-new items, particularly summer items. Due to limited storage, the store cannot accept more than 10 items per person.
In August, the store will be collecting back-to-school supplies and clothing for fall.
For more information and updates, follow @cazlakerlocker on Instagram.
