A new semester means new opportunities for NC State students to show their Wolfpack spirit. Darcy Blottenberger, a fourth-year studying business administration and the student founder of NCSUsed, hopes to gear up the Pack with affordable spiritwear.
NCSUsed is a thrift store that carries NC State apparel at an affordable price, with the goal of providing a more accessible, affordable and sustainable option for Wolfpack spiritwear.
Blottenberger collects donations from community members, alumni, students or anyone who has NC State merchandise that they no longer want and resells it at a thrift store price.
So far, Blottenberger has held two donation drives. She said she is looking at Parents Weekend to hold one more drive, in hopes that she will have enough inventory to open a pop-up shop.
“The idea is that there would be an ongoing cycle of donation drives and pop-up shops, so the inventory keeps cycling,” Blottenberger said. “People are continually going through their clothes.”
Tiffany Zhang, a third-year studying chemical engineering, said she appreciates the concept of empowering people who may not have the same privileges and resources to still be involved with school spirit.
Zhang donated an NC State t-shirt to NCSUsed in good condition because she said she didn’t wear it often.
“I just wanted to help out the community here, and I thought it was a really it’s an easy way to help out, but I think it also makes an impact,” Zhang said.
Blottenberger said the idea to start NCSUsed came to her during freshman orientation.
“There was some sort of Poole College brainstorming activity where we had to come up with an idea for a business that hasn’t been done before, and then pitch it to your small group of other incoming freshmen,” Blottenberger said. “I thought, ‘Oh, that would be such a neat idea — to have thrifted NC State merchandise or thrifted college merchandise.’”
In addition to her start at Poole, Blottenberger’s interest in fashion pushed her to begin working on NCSUsed.
“I’ve always had an interest in fashion and accessible fashion and upcycling and whatnot,” Blottenberger said. “And so with that idea in my head, I was like, ‘Wait a second. I could actually start this.’”
Blottenberger conducted research on campus to see if her idea was something the Wolfpack community was receptive to.
“I had a Google form that I sent out to quite literally everyone … about how likely would you be to purchase thrifted items and about college merchandise and how big of a prices factor into accessibility and the things that I was really keen to market for NCSUsed,” Blottenberger said. “If that was important, it would make sense to continue as a project.”
The answers to these questions were overwhelmingly yes. Now, NCSUsed is off and running. Blottenberger plans to continue with donation drives throughout the year, then form a pop-up shop.
More information on the project, including how to donate, can be found on NCSUsed’s website.
