Thrift and resale stores offering plus sizes are a rare jewel that’s hard to find.
However, there are business owners who are trying to change that by opening their own resale stores geared towards plus size customers. One of those just opened this weekend in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis.
Formerly known as Cat’s Closet, Cake Plus-Size Resale opened its store doors on Friday, October 6th. Owner Cat Polivoda’s vision of bringing more plus-size fashion and body positive community in her area has come true.
Polivoda is proof that dreams can come true. She started out on this journey a few years ago by selling her own clothes to people she knew under the name Cat’s Closet, which led her to opening an online store and the rest is history.
She told City Pages in a recent interview:
“Three and a half years ago, I had some extra clothing that I wanted to get rid of. I was going to post on eBay, so I took pictures wearing everything… I made a Facebook album, and shared widely. I thought if I was going to the trouble of shipping to people I didn’t know, I could try selling to my friends and acquaintances first. I made $300 in a weekend.
Soon I ran out of my own clothes, so I started shopping and thrifting. And, so it began! First as a Facebook page, then a website, then a better website, then a blog and pop-ups and style consulting and a curated rack at b. Resale, and now here we are.”
She launched a crowdfunding campaign earlier this year to help with launching her brick and mortar store and that campaign was fully funded by the end of July 2017.
Cake is Cat’s Closet reinvented into a full-fledged business that only offers plus size fashion but a safe, positive environment for customers to feel good about themselves and not dread the plus size shopping experience.
Polivoda describes herself as “a fun, fat, intersectional feminist who is full of energy, excitement, and is basically overflowing with unsolicited advice for anyone who will listen.”
With City Pages, she also discussed the lack of resale options in plus sizes and why she felt she had to create her own space to serve that customer:
“There’s such a sense of scarcity for plus-size shoppers, especially in resale shops. There’s often so little for us, and what’s available usually isn’t that stylish. I want customers who walk through my doors to feel like there are options, like there is variety and surplus and more than they could ever take home.
I want them to leave feeling a little more comfortable with their bodies and know that there can be some spaces that are created especially for us!”
AMEN! Next time we’re in the Minneapolis area, we plan to stop by Cake and shop until we drop, while chatting it up with Polivoda.
Cake Plus-Size Resale is located at 5155 Bloomington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55417. Click here to check out their official website.
Follow Cake on Facebook here, on Instagram here and on Twitter here.
Images: City Pages and Cake/Cat Polivoda