Nestled into a corner of Adams Street is a boutique doing more than just selling hand-picked vintage clothing: it is fighting clothes waste and bolstering locals in the community, one garment at a time.
“It's crazy: the amount of fashion waste there is and it only gets worse,” Alan Dow, founder and owner of the boutique, House of Dow, said. “I'm always trying to seek out stuff like organic fabrics, linens, and cottons because it lasts forever, but also breaks down in the landfills way faster [than synthetic fabrics].”
House of Dow opened nearly eight years ago, under the vision of Alan Dow — a Toledo native who was inspired to open the store by fond memories of shopping for old clothing items with his mother at estate sales as he grew up. Dow is still frequenting estate sales, only now, it’s his livelihood.
“I'm always trying to find unusual and standout things, so I will go out and go to sales or estates and buy things,” he said. “We usually bring back car-loads at a time.”
He also finds pieces at garage sales or antique malls. The House of Dow team will check out closed theater and fashion departments for possible additions to the store, as well. Dow oftentimes has to turn people away who try to bring clothes into the shop because he is at maximum capacity with his own finds.
The store does everything it can to make sure clothes don’t end up being thrown away. If clothes on the racks haven’t been piquing interest, Dow will move them to a $2 clearance rack, where they’ll often be snagged. They also clear out inventory using eBay, Etsy, and a booth at an antique mall.
If items have still not sold, Dow will offer them for free in his neighborhood Facebook group or drop them off at the St. Paul’s Community Center, which provides food, shelter, support services, and job and housing referrals to the homeless, indigent, and mentally ill in the metropolitan Toledo area. St. Paul’s has a free clothing store, where a lot of Dow’s leftover items find a home.
The only time they throw away clothes are when they are damaged or stained beyond reasonable wear, Dow said. The store also reuses packaging when fulfilling online orders, in its efforts to minimize its footprint as much as possible.
Making an impact
Shop manager, Lucy Pawlowicz, has been working at House of Dow for five years — four as manager — ever since she frequented the shop in high school.
“I think my favorite aspect of working here is I have met so many people through it and people who are like-minded and also like cool things,” she said. “I just love talking to the people, and honestly, I'm somebody who likes to learn as much as I can and, in vintage, you learn every day.”
Pawlowicz has met some of her closest friends from working at the shop, including her current roommate, and she also loves the friendship she shares with her boss, Alan.
“The really cool thing about it, too, is I think working here is directly affecting my community in a way that's positive,” she said. “It’s so much more than retail working here.”
Pawlowicz has even made friends with the people she and Dow have helped out when they needed something.
“I get to not only work my job, get knowledge that I love, learn more, [and] meet friends, but also I get to make a positive change in the community. And I don't know how many people can say that they are friends with their boss either, right?” she added.
In his early days, Dow would buy and flip pieces to then sell online via Instagram. Eventually, he developed enough of a knack for the craft that he was inspired to turn it into a full-fledged small business, with the help of some friends and his partner.
“When I first started, I wasn't sure if it was a thing that people would be into or not, and we've really found our niche with creative people or people who just want to be able to feel special or get dressed up for something,” he said. “We really strive to find stuff that we haven't seen before, or that you're not gonna be able to find other places because we know everybody wants to be unique and special.”
Dow also tries to find styles that are practical and can be priced affordably for the typical consumer. He often lists high-end vintage items online to target the niche community of shoppers for vintage designer couture, while pricing the items in-store at very reasonable and affordable tags.
Helping others
“We love to put together outfits, and we love to help regular people. We love to dress alternative models, we love to dress people who aren't, you know, Kate Moss,” he said. “We love to dress real people and make them feel good about themselves and send them down the runway, feeling confident when they might not have before.
“You gotta meet people where they are, which is the thing I'm trying to do in all aspects of my life these days,” he said. “It's not just shopping sustainable. It's shopping affordable, and it's shopping for the things you like. We curate what people like.”
The store will also dress people who come in off the street in need of clothes, or who are brought in by a community service organization looking to clothe them.
“There's a lot of things that we've done in the community just because we were happy to be there. We know there's a lot of needs, and we also know there's lots of clothes out there. So like it's our goal in the future, to take the aspects of how it benefits us and benefits the community and just kind of expand on that,” Dow said. “We all believe in Toledo.”
Dow also makes an effort to support other businesses like his, often buying his clothes from second-hand shops. He’s more willing to pay a bit more of a premium at a store like his because he understands the struggle of owning a small business and is more than willing to support others’.
“I appreciate their hustle and that they're going to find the cool things for me,” he said. “Other times too, I tell them about what it's like and what it's been like for me. I tell them that we still have days sometimes where we only make like 50 bucks or maybe no money at all. That happens sometimes. And it's not a reflection of whether or not you are successful as a business. It takes a long time to build a customer base, and it takes a long time to get your name out there.”
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