Alvin McBean, a third year photography student from Fort Lauderdale, decided to start his own consignment business this past summer. As McBean traveled, he collected different pieces and has exclusively brought them to FAMU’s “Set Friday” to sell. “Ain’t Nothing Like It” is a community service and development business with a Go Green initiative. McBean’s merchandise is items that people have donated to him in hopes to create other outfits for the community.
“In the mall there is a limited variety of items for men and women,” says McBean. With his business he plans to offer retro style and originality. There is a guarantee that no one else on the campus will have your pieces on when shopping at “Ain’t Nothing Like It,” but like many other second-hand stores, shoppers are always worried about the prices. McBean says that he is willing to negotiate all prices. “He is not trying to rob anyone, neither is he trying to get robbed.”
Anastasia “Stacy” Mosby is a dedicated consignment shopper. She said that she was happy to see that consignment was coming to the FAMU’s “Set Friday.” Growing up poor and insecure about shopping at second hand places, like Salvation Army, Mosby was never proud of consignment shopping.
With the acceptance of creativity and individuality at FAMU, wearing “hand me downs” is often accepted and considered vintage. Student, model and supporter of second wear businesses, Mario Roberts, a third year theater performance student, says that the pieces he finds most interesting are found in the consignment shops such as Goodwill and other thrift stores. This allows someone to have their own unique style and stand out, there is no trend to follow. “I most definitely love it, I look forward to going to Goodwill every Monday,” Roberts says. “I am a definite supporter of going green, I use and reuse other peoples clothing all the time. I encourage anyone who hasn’t shopped in thrift stores to give it a try.”
McBean is in the process of building a website for online distribution to his clients. The site will feature models in the clothing, style suggestions and a choice of online payment. In upcoming weeks, he plans on obtaining the Square technology. The square attaches to the iPhone for on-the-go debit and credit purchases. The PayPal account option is also available for customers.
McBean encourages students of FAMU to donate articles of clothing to his business. He requests that the materials are of good quality and nothing “dingy.” The clothes are washed and reused to create a new style.