The Buckeye Room features many new, first hand OSU merchandise. Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Beyer
What started as a small shop for students’ needs has blossomed into a welcoming space where students and the community can get thrifty.
Buckeye Bargains first opened its doors in 1966; despite challenges faced by small businesses over the past year, the thrift shop, now located at 53 W. 11th Ave., has reopened its doors.
Mary Gustafson, co-chair of Buckeye Bargains, said the thrift shop originally opened in an effort to provide for student needs. She said serving the student population continues to be the primary goal of the shop’s operations.
“The wife of President Faucet saw a need for students who were coming to Columbus from international countries and they weren’t dressed right — they were cold in the winter. They didn’t have winter coats or hats, so she originally started it as a way to provide clothing for those students,” Gustafson said.
Recently, the university relocated the thrift store from Converse Hall to its 11th Avenue home to give more space to the ROTC program.
“We’re hoping because we’re kind of on the edge of the Short North that we’d get some of those people, too,” Cheri Rickert, a volunteer at Buckeye Bargains, said.
The store has also begun accepting BuckID, which Gustafson said she hopes will bring in more business.
“Since 1966, Buckeye Bargains has been a cash-only shop, so this is a pretty major change for us,” Gustafson said.
The store is run by a group of volunteers like Rickert who are all members of the OSU Women’s Club — a philanthropy-oriented organization that focuses mainly on providing Ohio State students with scholarships and general service opportunities. Gustafson said 100 percent of the store’s profit goes directly to a scholarship created by the club, and last year was a major success with the shop raking in $37,000.
Rickert said the store features a wide assortment of products, from household items such as plates and glassware to original Ohio State merchandise.
“We get a whole bunch of Ohio State trademark, and we can sell it so much cheaper than any of the Buckeye stores, so that is our biggest input of first-rate clothing,” Rickert said. “They’re not worn or second hand.”
However, she said the store is always looking for more products.
“We’re always looking for people that want to donate something,” Rickert said. “It could be from anybody, we’ll take almost anything.”
The store also receives items from other secondhand stores and auction houses in the area, including Everything But The House and Vision and Vasari, Rickert said. However, most of the shop’s donations come from volunteers and word of mouth.
Gustafson said she hopes that in the future, the store’s doors will open more than just once a week.
“In my dreams, I’d love to have it open more,” Gustafson said. “I’m kind of pushing for it to be open a few more hours.”
The store is currently open every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. but will expand their hours beginning Feb. 3 to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
