TREASURE CITY THRIFT

KRANG are a new band birthed from Chicago’s DIY punk underbelly. They play a brutally powerful brand of thrashy riff-laden crustcore and have an intense live presence. They have recently recorded for a few vinyl projects, including PE’s own 7″ singles series. Check ‘em out!

Interviewed by Brian Poulin (NEGLIGENCE). All photos by Adam DeGross.

PE Who’s in the band and what does each of you do?
AUSTIN: guitars / backing vocals / song writing (synth & keyboard on 12″)
ADAM: bass / backing vocals / song writing
BRENDAN: lead vocals / lyrical content
DEVAN: drums & percussion / backing vocals

PE: What’s a brief history of the band and how did you guys form?
Austin: We started circa 2009. We had an additional guitarist: Louis C. He went on to start a blackened crust band called Welkin Dusk, based in Chicago that he plays drums & lead vocals for. We used to have an additional lead singer as well: Hannah B. Hannah was a part of our first two releases: the out of print “Onward Desolation” demo tape, and also the out of print “Bog of Eternal Stenchcore” 7″. Hannah is now the front-woman in a band called Despise, based out of Minneapolis. Our original drummer, Brett, is on the two recordings I mentioned before, as well as our “Sounds of Death” 12″. Brett now drums for a Chicago / northwest Indiana band called Asphixiate. Devan is now our permanent drummer and he will have his first appearance on the “Broken Waves” 7″, released by Profane Existence, which is coming out in June. Devan will also be on our next 12″: “Bad Moon”, which we are writing right now. I, as well as Krang, are totally stoked on Devan and really happy to have them. Devan is active outside of percussion as well with assisting in writing, assistance in lyrical content & structure, and the internet stuff. This line up has been solidified for over a year and is totally fucking Krang! It just works perfectly.

Bog of Eternal Stenchcore 7″

PE: You guys are based out of Chicago. What are your favorite parts of the scene there? What are your least favorite things about Chicago’s scene?
Devan: Chicago’s an interesting place. I feel like the pros and cons are often directly related to one-another. For example, the mere size of the city. There are so many people – new to here, young, old, whatever – that there is basically always something going on and a handful of solid DIY spaces at all times, regardless of whether people leave or places get busted or whatever. The downside is that the physical structure of the city makes it difficult and/or terribly time-consuming to navigate. Especially if you don’t have a car. And even if you do, parking sucks. Anyway, as a result of the city being as segregated as it is, people are often inclined to just stick to what’s going on in their neighborhood and it results in a lack of exposure or attention paid to some really cool things. It’s unfortunate. But then there are some events like the annual Black and Brown Punk Show (shout-out to Monika!) or other fest-type shows where the attendance is crazy and bullshit is minimal. It’s rad.

Sounds of Death LP

Austin: I used to live in CHI. I reside in northwest Indiana (NWI). It’s really close. You can compare it to how close Jersey is to NYC. The rest of the band does live in CHI. My favorite things about Chicago is the “don’t take shit” attitude that at least me and the scene we’re involved with has. We’ll kick you out if your a piece of shit human or kick your ass if we have to. I also like The Void Haus in NWI for gigs. My personal least favorite things are cliques, hype, division, etc… the things that you see in every rather large city, I suppose.
Adam: I love Chicago’s unspoken rule of everyone being down to get down when shit hits the fan and nobody lets bogus comments or derogatory gestures fly. My complaint for the longest time was how there is the same hierarchy that we all hate in daily life at a lot of the gigs. It seems like those “in crowd” wanks have come and gone though, or maybe I just don’t surround myself with such fools anymore. My main complaint, and I know I am sounding super negative, but for such a large city there is a lack of bands playing what I am into personally. There are a lot of great bands doing great things…but that doesn’t necessarily mean I am into them musically. Haha! I have a particular taste and its not being fulfilled. I usually go to shows to hang out and have a good time and just show support but its rare that I actually shit over a band that I see locally. I do really, really get down to Population though. White boy can’t dance but when I see this band I start doing shit I didn’t know I was capable of.
Brendan: Chicago is simultaneously the best & worst place to live; which I’d imagine is a critique most other big-city dwellers share. There is no shortage of great folks, bands, eats, cool nerd-haunts (comic & record collectors rejoice!), and beautiful neighborhoods/communities in which to live. The same is true for all of the awful yuppies, gold cost bourgeois, & assholes who get your friends hooked on hard drugs. A lot of the time I wish that I lived in a vast expanse of lush nature with no human presence save myself. When I’m not wishing for seclusion, I’m loving how hard of a time I have sorting out which of the 5 awesome punk shows I get to go see any given night. Chicago has everything I love & hate at once; most of the time its worth it.

PE: Musically what are you guys going for?
Devan: I’d say sincerity, first and foremost. In sound, words, and delivery. And the connections we can and have made with people based on that. My musician’s answer would be just to write the best songs we can and perform them at the highest level at all times.
Austin: I just want to stick out and be a little different sounding. I still want to have that essential formula for great punk. I personally believe we found the introduction to our sound with the “Sounds of Death” 12″. We have two formulas: triumphant, galloping crust metal and simplified, pissed off, to-the-point stuff.
Brendan: Initially we formed with the idea of writing over the top odes to crust circa late 80′s/early 90′s; stuff you could flail your overgrown dreadlocks around to. We all fell into a groove with each other over time, where we don’t really need to define what we’re gonna write before we do. We approach releases with general outlines (theme,length, format etc.), but when writing songs I’d say we aim for mean, earnest & impactful.
Adam: I think naturally all being into different types of musical backgrounds, our finished product ends up being a thing of its own, but we all have similar enough interests to where we end up with the result that we initially were trying to go for. I personally am really into trying to sound like the bands I am into. It doesn’t end up exactly that way which is good but I love when bands obsess over old school sounds/bands/records and try to make their contemporary music sound as authentic as possible whether it be tone or style or whatever. At the end of the day we are trying to sound pissed, like we worship the 80s and have our music sound anarchy as fuck!

Krang slaying Minneapolis : Photo by Adam DeGross

PE: What bands inspire you the most?
Austin: I listen to EVERYTHING. I don’t know where to begin but musically, keeping personal interest aside, I think we’re inspired by 80′s UK crust and a lot of Japanese stuff as far as writing collectively. This is something me and you will have to nerd out on when we’re in Boston next. Haha!
Adam: For Krang, bands that influence the writing process for me are Masskontroll, Deathraid, Sacrilege, Hellshock, Deviated Instinct, Sodom, Axegrinder and Amebix as well as Instinct of Survival. Personally I am all over the water but my all time 2 favorite punk bands have always and will always be Discharge and the Dead Boys.
Devan: I could go on a long rant about every band I’ve ever loved and how they’ve all stuck with and influence me to this day and blah blah blah, but I’ll spare you the cost of ink and just say Sacrilege, Crude, Amebix and Discharge. That said, we are quite the eclectic bunch.
Brendan: Musically, anything running the gamut from Paintbox to Elliot Smith. I enjoy a lot of soaring Japanese hardcore with that Burning Spirits feel, 90′s screamo, early black metal & hip hop. Any band that has a way with words gets me going, but mostly I enjoy music that you can’t help but feel.

Broken Waves EP

PE: What are most of your songs about? What inspires the lyrics?
Brendan: Lemme preface by saying that Discharge is rad & “The More I See…” could be the soundtrack to my daily tedium… but i think punk rock has much more potential than to rehash our dogmatic & oftentimes simplistic politics. Having been a few places where the punk scene eats itself inside out with depression, addiction, & apathy towards the struggles of those around us, I think its real important to allow ourselves to be more open in the way we express all of the things exploding in our minds. I am not blowing my own horn, or any horn for that matter, but I really enjoy taking the personal route when it comes to writing & am constantly attempting to better address the common threads that run through all of our lives. Our first wave of songs covered some of our political leanings in regards to vivisection, arms manufacturing, rape culture & the willful destruction of our Earth. The “Bog of Eternal Stenchcore” 7″ reflects on the weight of stagnation on the “politically motivated”. “Sounds of Death” is the result of an obsession with death and a years worth of hurt; friends making irreversible decisions in regards to their lives & some of us falling into those spirals ourselves. There is absolution in acceptance though & I think a glint of hope in such dark subject matter. Our upcoming 7″ deals with cycles of change in our lives, moments of mania & madness; a counterpoint to our last 7″. The songs we are writing & playing now are an extension of that, focusing on moments of change in our lives, wanderlust & really just form one big, loud, pissed love letter to the DIY community, punk rock & time spent on the road. Inspiration comes from any human I’ve met that has dared to be open, honest & shameless about it.
Devan: Passion in all its forms and extremities is what inspires us. Totally.

PE: You guys have done a few extensive tours. What’s your favorite city you guys have played in? What’s your least favorite?
Austin: I love Boston. Detroit, New Orleans, and the Twin Cities (Minneapolis) are up there too. I don’t really have a least favorite. We have had some bad experiences, though. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and not mention them. Hopefully things will be better when we return.
Devan: New Orleans is my favorite city ever, and our most recent gig in Boston totally ruled. I’d have to say, though, that many of my favorite shows have been in non-major cities. Birmingham AL was awesome, Asheville NC, Cincinatti OH, Grand Rapids MI…basically anywhere with a really tight-knit but wide-ranging DIY scene in terms of age, music, spaces, projects, etc. It’s always super encouraging to see.
Brendan: I’ll echo the others in saying that NOLA, Asheville, Cincy, Birmingham, Boston & Baltimore all kick ass. I’m usually super appreciative of all the towns we’ve been lucky enough to play in, though of course we’ve played in towns that seemed to embrace the anti-PC attitude/sense of humor that I am so fucking sick of. Some cities are really 50/50 because you’ll either play an amazing show with bad-ass folks & have the time of your life, or you might end up wanting to eviscerate some fuckhead who only listens to GG Allin & doesn’t get why a confederate flag hanging at a show space might ruffle some feathers.
Austin: We as a band aren’t about making sure we are politically correct all the time, but we definitely are hellbent on showing one another respect and are willing to give respect back to those who are legit. No single city is bad. Like I said before, sometimes there are some bad experiences. Fuckheads are everywhere.
Adam: Yes, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Boston, but most of all NOLA and Minneapolis. New Orleans and Minneapolis…no other city can live up to the debauchery that is expected to happen when we arrive in these two places. We need a week of recovery after being in either place for just a day. Also I love playing Madison a lot. Fuck, I love touring. So many amazing friends are being missed right now as we speak.

PE: What are some of your favorite bands you guys have played with?
Lord Krang: Scum from Detroit, Appalachian Terror Unit, Antisect, In Defense, Nu-kle-ar Blast Suntan, Kontrasekt, Cognitive Dissonance, The Skuds, Coelacanth, WrathCobra, Wartorn, Negligence, In Ruins, and definitely D-Clone; but honestly, it’s great to play with anyone and everyone who aren’t assholes and give a shit about “punk rock”.

PE: What are some of your favorite local bands from Chicago?
Lord Krang: Asphyxiate, Decay After Death (Decay A.D.), Cemetery (RIP), Culo, Die Time, Slag, Escalofrio, Sex Bunker (RIP), Birth Deformities, Gas Rag, Welkin Dusk, Daylight Robbery, Dirty Surgeon Insurgency, The Breathing Light, La Armada, Black September, Kontaminat, Ooze, Tensions, The Busy Sugnals, Population, More that we’re forgetting to mention….

PE: What does the future hold for Krang?
Devan: As Austin mentioned earlier, we have our “Broken Waves” 7″ being released in June, at which point we’ll be doing a small tour with Coelacanth. Also, as previously stated, we are well along in the writing process for our next full-length LP. Look for us around the Mid-west this summer and keep up-to-date and get in touch via the following:
crustardpunx[AT]gmail.com – krangcrustards.bandcamp.com – krangcrustards.blogspot.com
Austin: More touring, more albums, more blood spit nights, more everything! We’ll do a more extensive tour when the new LP comes out.
Brendan: “Bad Moon” 12″ – Skull Fest – Split(s?) – Self-Destruction With A Gusto
Lord Krang: Record labels that are interested in helping us with our next 12″ (which is more than half way written) get in touch with us!!! It will be even more galloping, pist, and triumphant than our still available “Sounds of Death” 12″!

: Krang slaying Minneapolis : Photo by Adam DeGross

I first heard about Treasure City Thrift from my homey Chris, who lives in Austin, TX. He told me about this anarcho-thrift store and by gum my interest was piqued! Wanna know more? I sure as shit did, so I (stinkbot) sent an email that had some questions attached. Cory, a coordinator at Treasure City was kind enough to wrangle two founding members of the collective and answer these questions. Read on brave and interested punk rocker!

What is Treasure City Thrift?

Simon: Friend, neighbor, thrift store, bazaar of the weird, junk/curio shop, reuse and waste stream diversion project, event and meeting space, infoshop, collectively-run business, non-profit, co-op incubator, really really free market sponsor, 25c sales, radical economic engine, mutual aid, solidarity not charity.

Cory: A collectively run radical non-profit thrift store in Austin TX.

Our mission: Treasure City Thrift supports local groups working for grassroots change using a sustainable and democratic economic model.

What does that mean exactly? We’re trying to build solid support systems for the organizations in our community that are working towards systematic, root level change. These groups need funding, space materials, We provide one time grants, ongoing financial support, materials, meeting and event space, free copies, and promotion to groups which have little or no funding, and are aligned with our principles.

How did the idea of starting a thrift store come about, as opposed to an info shop or a cafe?

Simon: We had a dozen co-founders – many of whom are still active in some capacity – so of course there are varying reasons why a thrift store was appealing.

At the core, I think we all wanted to create something that could financially sustain itself and other radical projects, and was simple and inexpensive to start. Of course, it never happened exactly as we envisioned it (except the inexpensive part!), but we kept at it and now we are closer to the original goal.

On a personal level, I like the idea of re-selling goods that already exist at very affordable prices (or free). This makes TCT relevant to a range of people beyond just radicals. Also, I’ve always loved and shopped at thrift stores – as do most of my friends – so creating an anarchist thrift store made a lot of sense economically. Why pay money to organizations or business you disagree with if you can start your own alternative?

James: Treasure City’s goal from the beginning was to be an economic engine for the Austin radical community. Many of us had been involved in projects where we spent more time fundraising than we spent actually doing the work that the project was intended to do. We wanted to start a project that would fund other projects, provide jobs with dignity, and otherwise be part of a larger infrastructure of resistance and liberation.
A thrift store had both political and pragmatic advantages over other types of businesses. Politically, it was a project that would relevant to a wide range of communities. By selling necessary things like clothing and household goods at affordable prices, it could meet the needs of radicals and non-radicals alike, much more than an infoshop. A lot of radical spaces seem to only serve a narrow demographic, and we envisioned a project that would transcend that limit.
Also, a thrift store appealed to our interest in anti-consumerism. It walks a tight line, because in one sense, it is entirely consumerist; a lot of the stuff treasure city sells is completely unnecessary and excessive. But it also runs on waste diversion. Much of what the store sells would have otherwise gone to the landfill―or one of those clothing donation boxes and then on to wreck the local economy in some third world country. Treasure City tries to keep it local.
On the pragmatic side, a thrift store requires far fewer resources to start (what an MBA would refer to as “start-up capital”) than most other types of businesses. There is no comprehensive regulatory framework for thrift stores (yet) the way there is for cafes. We didn’t need a commercial kitchen, health inspection, etc. Also, since the whole premise of the store is that we are selling donated goods, we didn’t need money or credit to pay for our initial inventory; just the good will of the folks in the neighborhood.

How many people are involved in the project?

Cory: A collective of 12 volunteers founded the store in 2006, and that number has fluctuated between 5 and 15 over the years. For the first several years, the collective was supported by 1 part time staff person, staff has gradually increased in size and responsibility.

Currently, weekday store operations as well as administration (bookkeeping, communications, promotion, etc) are the responsibility of 4 staff people. There are several regular volunteers who assist with store operations throughout the week, and there are 2 volunteers who are responsible for a 4-hour store shift on Saturday. On Sundays we have volunteers from the Inside Books Project working the register with support from our staff.

The Really Really Free Market is a connected but somewhat autonomous project run by 2 long-term volunteers with assistance from several others.

Simon: As with any collective, this fluctuates over time and is based on factors such as family, need for paid work, school, other projects commitments, or burnout.

We started with a volunteer collective of 12, running the store via consensus decision-making. We were all putting in a lot of time and it soon became apparent that a paid staff member would be essential to the smooth running, reliability and financial success of the project. Simply put, we are a retail business selling non-luxury items, we have to be open during the hours we state or we will lose credibility and customers. So we took a risk, hired one collective member and daily sales increased exponentially.

Since then we have hired more staff members as the store income has increased, and now have 4 paid staff (all female) plus some long-term volunteers involved in decision-making, some not. New volunteers come to an orientation every week to learn more about us and help sort the “donation mountains.” We also have volunteers who specialize in sorting particular items – books, music or electronics – which improves the quality, pricing, variety and organization in these sections.

Did you have any issues/hurdles starting up such a unique project? And how has the community response been?

James: We’ve had more hurdles than you can really shake a stick at. Some, like arson and homeless drug addicts shitting on out front step, are really case specific and you can’t do much to plan for. One big thing is for several years at least, we simply weren’t prepared to deal with the tremendous amount of stuff that would be donated. The capitalist machine produces an enormous excess, and most of it land here in the United States. The amount of good, usable stuff people are eager to give away is mind boggling. For a group of rag-tag radicals who live quite simply, dumpster dive, and use everything they own until it disintegrates, it was hard to learn what would sell and what wouldn’t. It was also difficult to realize that, despite all the 25-cent sales and the Really Really Free Markets, some stuff just had to be thrown away.
It also took an enormous amount of labor to sort, process, display, distribute, and dispose of all the stuff. We went through several cycles of burn-out in just a few years, which put a lot of strain on just a few people sometimes. The store now has 4 paid staff people. This has become part of Treasure City’s mission of being an economic engine for building a sustainable community. Our projects and our individual lives must be sustainable too. By providing jobs with dignity and a living wage, we help build a community where, for example, people with children don’t have to leave the community just to find work that will financially support their family.

Simon: “Start-up” or “venture capital” is key: we started with $10,000. This can be from donations, micro loans, community capital or personal loans. In our case, traditional grants and loans were not available, and because radical projects come and go, the only viable option that enabled us to be ready if we found a location, was personal loans. The collective was well aware of the potential negative power dynamics of this and made sure that the loan didn’t imply any executive decision-making by the lenders.

In an ideal (or future) world, start-up money would be provided by radical economic engines such as TCT, mutual aid networks or other collective/co-op incubators, using similar models to the Mondragon Cooperatives in Spain, where members (co-ops and individuals) pay a percentage of earnings into a community development fund.

The second decision we made was deciding to collect inventory before we found and opened a space! We took donations from ourselves, friends, allies, family, from the curbside, slowly building up our donation network. We packed it all into a $40 a month storage locker. These were interesting times.

Despite all the challenges, we have adapted well to our environment and the level of donations has never stopped increasing. A lot of people are tired of donating to the big name thrift stores. They know these places are getting expensive, throw away too much or ship donated goods to third world countries where they undermine local economies, have high administrative costs, or simply don’t share the same values as they do. We saw this need and responded to it.

For me there are a couple of landmarks that define the success of Treasure City Thrift as both a business, and an anarchist organization that has maintained its core values:

25c Sale – from the beginning we realized we were getting more clothing and random crap than we could ever sort or sell. The first level of dealing with this is separating out the “25c” stuff. We need to do at least one 25c saturday a month to stay sane! There are usually lines in front of the store on those days and it never ceases to amaze me how much energy folks have for rummaging through bins of junk for a bargain. We sell at least 4000 items on those days. Anything left over goes to the RRFM.

Really Really Free Market (RRFM) – about a year in, a customer suggested the RRFM idea to us – once-a-month festival of free goods, services and education – though we later found out that a friend had organized the first RRFM during the Miami FTAA protests in 2003. The Austin RRFM happens at a local city park and is organized by an autonomous group of volunteers. TCT’s role is providing 50-60 boxes of donations a month. It has been happening regularly now since 2007. We love it.

Mutual Aid – initially, the best we could do was provide event and meeting space for groups we support (underfunded, local, non-profits), plus some material aid, which might be blank T-shirts for screen-printing and fundraising or clothing to support families in need. For 2 years, from 2007-2009, we provided space for the Yellow Bike Project whilst they were in transition to a more permanent home. They ran a community bike shop from a shed and shipping container in the parking lot. It wasn’t ideal but it enabled them to stay open 5 days a week.

Our current, and most successful, mutual aid strategy is shopping days/nights, where a local group we support staffs and runs the thrift store on a sunday or an evening when would be normally closed. That group gets to keep all the sales during that period. Inside Books Project, which has been sending books to texas prisoners since 1998, Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera, which organizes and improves conditions for maquiladora workers on the US-Mexico border, and Skillshare Austin, which puts on free skillsharing events around Austin are groups we’ve worked with recently. These events also help us move through more inventory and allow us to be open during times when we have no staff or volunteers.
Cory on Community Response: We’ve had overwhelmingly positive community response. We’ve received a ton of support in the form of donations of goods, volunteer time, word-of-mouth promotion, etc, and we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from folks who enjoy shopping at Treasure City, holding meetings in our space, receiving material donations from the store, and having their projects funded through our sales. We get great online reviews from serious thrifters . There are long time neighborhood residents who have made stopping by our store a part of their daily routine, and value our presence.

Even when we were first getting started and didn’t really know how to run a thrift store on a daily basis, let alone make a significant impact for the non-profits we set out to support, I think that folks appreciated how diligently we were struggling to figure it out, and I’m sure the reputation that many of our founders had as dedicated and hardworking organizers and activists helped with that.

I’m also sure we are not 100% universally loved. When we first catch someone stealing we try politely but firmly asking them to stop, and that’s actually worked out pretty well on more than one occasion. But there are a few die-hard shoplifters who’ve been kicked out and will tell you we’re the meanest people ever.

I’m sure there is also more serious criticism that we don’t often hear directly. A significant proportion of our collective have been white, and a significant proportion have been relative newcomers to East Austin, which is a historically Black neighborhood. The history of East Austin is one of long term neglect by the city, followed by rapid gentrification, benefiting real estate developers and new home and business owners at the expense of long term residents. While we strive to make our presence more of a thorn in the side of developers and bougie businesses than an assett to them, we recognize that our role is made more complicated than that by the larger economic and social forces at work. While artists and activists are often displaced by gentrification at the later stages, our presence can also be a factor in increasing it at the earlier stages. Personally, I don’t want us to be judged based on un-checked assumptions about who we are or what our politics are, but I think that long term East Austinites have a right to be a little skeptical of our presence here, and that it is up to us to demonstrate the validity of our solidarity with marginalized communities.

How did you find the space?

James: We went through two spaces before arriving at our current location. We always had to make tradeoffs. Our first space was large-ish and cheap, but was falling apart and not very comfortable to work or shop in. Our next space was smaller and less visible from the street, but more comfortable. Our current space is large, visible from a big thoroughfare, and is not falling apart. It is also more expensive, but absolutely worth it. The most important thing is that we never got ahead of ourselves and were patient as we slowly grew.

Simon: There were no hook-ups or lucky connections. As collective members travelled across town on their daily business, they looked for vacant spaces, called landlords, realtors, property managers and, after 1-2 months, we got a good feel for the cost per square foot in different geographic areas. One day we found a space in east austin that had been vacant for 18 months. We all had our favorite locations and honestly, no one really liked this one. But, the price was right – 50c per square foot and visible. The trade-offs were it wasn’t to code, we had to do all rehab and repairs ourselves and the landlord was a scumbag. The collective discussed this location/situation in depth and decided – even though there was some doubt and disagreement – to make the initial leap into the unknown.

We did all the demo, cleaning, rehab on the location ourselves, in under a month, with borrowed tools and equipment and free paint from the hazardous waste disposal center. Very little was to code, the waste pipes were always backed up, there were rats, the roof leaked, the lot was littered with crack pipes and feces, and we inherited a guy named L.D. who lived in a shack out back and detailed cars. The shack eventually burned down, as did our free box, then the front of the store and then the vacant house next door. L.D. went to jail for drugs and was replaced by other regulars who slept on the lot. Threats of violence and break-ins were common, but there was little of value to steal or damage. We built a shed to store excess donations and were later made to tear it down by city code enforcement. We stayed at this location for 3.5 years. Over time, with hard work and being consistent, our local reputation and rental options greatly improved. We are now at our third, best (and most expensive) location. It is a high traffic area: the street provides access in and out of town, we are close to an intersection and next to a convenience store. The building is pink. Our sales are great and we still have customers who have been coming since day one.

Looking back, our first space was a bad move (and we are advising another project not to move into it), but I feel like we did what was needed to keep momentum, and it was those early challenges that made us able to deal with anything after that.

How do you make your policies and politics known to your community? Does it matter that your clientele know about your politics?

Simon: Our politics are visible in the store – flags, posters, literature, events, reading groups – but we’re not evangelical about it. We have a truly diverse range of customers, so we try to make folks comfortable in our space first and let them ask questions later. It’s anarchism with a “little a.” If you come and volunteer with us, you will get more of a political introduction to the project.

Cory: Yes, it matters to us very much, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re handing people propaganda as soon as they walk in. Some of that communication does come through signs in our windows explaining our mission, the boxes of materials in the store labeled with the names of groups we support, or the fact that “collectively run since 2006” is printed on our flyers and stickers. But a lot of it also happens through face-to-face conversation with folks who walk in our door looking for nothing more than a cheap pair of pants. People see that we do things a little differently, whether it’s because they can’t figure out who’s in charge and who’s just a worker (at any given moment any one of us may be sorting the donations, taking out the trash, answering the email, writing the checks, or making on-the-fly decisions about how to handle things) or because they see us setting out the scuffed shoes in a “free box” in front of the store at night in our effort to keep them out of the landfill and in the hands (or feet, as the case may be) of someone who can use them. They ask about these things and we’re often given the opportunity to have real two-way conversations about hierarchy, capitalism, oppression, distribution of resources, etc, with folks we might otherwise never be talking with at all.

As an anti-capitalist, I personally never thought I’d feel so good about running a business. But operating a retail business (especially one that’s relevant to and meets the needs of a really broad cross-section of our neighborhood in the way that a thrift store does) turns out to be something I really love to do. While there are many roles that we fill as staff at Treasure City, from the physical grunt work to the legal and financial tasks of managing a growing non-profit, what we spend our time doing on a daily basis is, I imagine, not that different than a small town shopkeeper. We recognize the folks who come through the doors on a daily basis, and do our best to provide the things that they need in exchange for money. The income generated by that business allows us to keep a building rented and lights on in it, as well as to sustain ourselves, and that building functions as a community hub both in terms of the physical space that’s available to our community and the social interaction that happens within it. That social venue provides an opportunity for sharing politics, learning more about the people we share our city with, and strengthening our community.

What’s next for you?

James: Overthrowing capitalism. Or if that doesn’t work out, maybe franchising?

Simon: James (another co-founder) jokes about how we should franchise! I think the radical thrift store model is the new anarchist project, and the model is open source, so call us. We’d like to see one in every town!

Cory: oooh could be so many things. I think that we each have slight variations in our hopes, dreams and expectations…. personally, my goals are:
1. Really totally getting a handle on this running a waste-diversion oriented thrift store without getting buried under a mountain of trash.
2. Really totally getting a handle on this running a growing non-profit thing without getting buried under a mountain of paperwork.
3. Increase revenue in order to:
–give more money away, eventually eliminating the need for fundraising among radical Austin organizations.
–make our jobs more genuinely full time/living wage with health care
–hire more people to help with 1, 2, and 3.

and then…spin off autonomous worker cooperatives to upcycle everything we can’t sell into awesome new stuff… Have interns come from other places to learn how we’re doing it and start collective non-profit thrift stores of their own…Host workshops and trainings for all the radical groups in Austin where we can learn and grow and build things together…Buy a building so we can stop giving all our money to creepy landlords…And so we can have a permanent home of our own and provide space to radical groups and start-up worker coops?

Or on a less ambitious day…replace the speaker wire so our music keeps playing at the right volume. Figure out how to get people to stop pooping in the alley next to the building. Get that recycling sorted properly for once. Remember to bring in the drill to put up the mirrors that have leaning against the wall in the dressing room for a year. Keep having fun
Where can you be found, as either inspiration or for those in the Austin area, to shop?

Cory: Come by and see us at 2142 E 7th St. We’re the big pink building between Los Comales Restaurant and the Bread Basket Convenience store.

You can also find us at www.TreasureCityThrift.org

Anything to add?

Simon: Sometimes things don’t turn out as you planned or expected. Sometimes you fail. These are learning experiences. Stay focused, stay consistent. Above all, be open to group and/or community critique and adaptable to change.

TREASURE CITY THRIFT

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