Thrifty Beaches still taking over vacant Ross in downtown SLO — but with a twist

Don’t let the shut doors and dark lights dissuade you — San Luis Obispo’s growing secondhand clothing empire, Thrifty Beaches, is still opening up a new spot in the barren Ross space downtown.

There’s just been a slight change in what it plans to do with the space.

Since Thrifty Beaches owner Adam Kemp signed the lease to take over the building at 868 Higuera St. — at the time with plans to use the space as a sort of discounted clothing store — the road to opening a third location has been tough.

“I heard something recently that said the best type of people are just people that jump, like their intuition tells them to do something, and they go for it,” Kemp told The Tribune. “I think that’s always been how I am, but in situations like this, maybe that’s not always the best thing.”

Kemp said he has been having trouble with landlords, leases and fully securing a spot for Thrifty Beaches’ next locations, calling it a “pivotal time” for retail shops downtown.

“There’s a lot of barriers sometimes to creating businesses,” he said. “I’ve jumped through those hoops many times, but it does get exhausting because you have to fight a lot of different things when you open a business — but for things that sometimes people wouldn’t think about.”

While the process has been slow and often tricky, the business owner is now on the cusp of opening that third Thrifty Beaches location. Kemp said the store’s doors should be ready to open by the end of October or the first week of November.

As for what is set to be on display in the third location of the ever-growing secondhand business, Kemp is returning to how Thrifty Beaches first started out — with furniture.

One half of the store will contain secondhand furniture, home goods and knick-knacks, while the rest of the space will be filled with blue bins full of clothes that will likely be $10 a piece, Kemp said.

Thirty more bins are on the way, and when the secondhand clothing is restocked, the price will raise to $20, he added.

Kemp said they plan to start buying furniture and rare objects from the community the same way they buy clothes.

“I don’t have to make a killing on everything, so this store is really going to speak to that,” he said. “There’s just such an abundance of it out there that we can get it at a decent price.”

He continued: “I don’t think people need to go out and buy new clothes, especially when so many people are trying to get rid of their used clothes. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

For more information

The third Thrifty Beaches is set to open at 868 Higuera St. by the end of October.

For more information about Thrifty Beaches, visit its website at thriftybeachslo.com or call 224-245-1912.