As Buffalo Exchange’s 11 a.m. opening time approached, eager customers had already formed a line in front of the facility. Customers from all over Ventura County came out on Saturday, April 18 in the pursuit of a good deal on recycled clothing.
All of these “sale” items were displayed towards the front of the store. To avoid mixing the dollar items with the store’s regularly-priced items, employees marked this section off from the rest of the store.
As there were only two cashiers, the overall feeling of this annual sale was frantic. The amount of space allotted for the customers was minuscule in comparison to the rest of the store, which led to tight corners. Many shoppers had to politely ask fellow bargainers to switch places.
The metallic clothing racks were hardly visible and shone under the multitude of hangers that held all types of women’s clothing. However, there was a much smaller section solely devoted to menswear and it was, for the most part, dominated by female shoppers.
Trevor Harris, a senior at Foothill, was shopping at this year’s Dollar Day event.
“Its a great way to get nice clothes for an unusually cheap price, but it’s too crowded and people are kind of going crazy,” Harris said.
Harris said he was disappointed with the men’s clothing rack, because there were too few clothes and not a variety of sizes.
Buffalo Exchange is unique in that it is part of the resale fashion industry, which endorses the buying, selling and trading of new and recycled clothing.
Jamie Perigo, a current employee of Buffalo Exchange, explained the process of the Earth Day dollar sale. She said that during the year, the store will save up donations, and then put them all out on one day. The store chooses a different charity to support each year.
This year, 100 percent of the proceeds went to The Fund for Animals.
Along with being environmentally friendly, Buffalo Exchange also donates to local nonprofit organizations through their Tokens for Bags® program.
Buffalo Exchange has saved 11.5 million bags from polluting the environment by encouraging shoppers to accept a token instead of a bag. The store will then donate five cents to a charity of the customer’s choice.
Although Earth Day actually falls on April 22, Buffalo Exchange holds a widespread annual sale in honor of this environmental holiday. This blowout included a wide variety of new and recycled clothing and gave substantial funding to the support of animals.
