Vinty’s

Second hand — cheap, smart, and for a good cause!
Nice second hand shops are still rare in Germany, and plenty of my friends here would rather pay 300 € on a new shirt than buy the same one for 30 € — knowing that it belonged to someone else. I could never understand their reluctancy, seeing as even «new» shirts have been tried on several times in fitting rooms, and you can always just wash your clothes after buying them… Oh well, more left for me then!
Vinty’s is a recently opened second hand store in Erlangen, and the entire concept is simply brilliant!
It’s situated in the Friedrichsstraße, just a few metres off the main road, in a huge 350m² large shop consisting of just one room packed with clothes rails full of clothes. And there’s a small coffee bar serving coffee and tea.
The clothes themselves range from fancy dress, proper «retro» vintage clothes (60s, anyone?), casual clothes, kids clothes, shoes, accessoires and many more, and can be bougth at relatively cheap prices. You can also donate your clothes, as long as they are in good condition!
Which leads us to the best part:
Not only does second hand fashion make good economical and ecological sense, but it’s all in the name of charity as well.
The philosophy is built on people volunteering their time and clothes, and the proceeds go directly to development projects all around the world.
Bottom line:
* Huge second hand shop packed with clothes
* Cheap, huge variety, and friendly staff
* All for a good cause
* Definitely one of my favourite new shopping spots!

Was Second Hand laden angeht steckt Deutschland noch in den Kinderschuhen, die sogenannten «Thrift Stores» werden komisch beäugelt und der Gedanke gebrauchte Klamotten zu kaufen erweckt bei vielen ein Gefühl von Scham. Was echt schade ist, es gibt doch nichts genialeres als durch kleine Thrift Stores durchzustöbern und gut erhaltene Klamotten zu sehen die man so nie finden würde.
Mit Vinty’s wurde der erste «hippe» Thrift Store in Erlangen eröffnet, auf 300 Quadratmeter Verkaufsfläche findet man hier alles was das Herz begehrt, gekoppelt mit einem netten Angebot an Fair Trade Kaffee (den man auch Vorort genießen kann) ist das ganze ein nettes Erlebnis zum durchstöbern.
Und das beste an der ganzen Geschichte? Mit dem Erlös werden Entwicklungsprojekte in Afrika, Südamerika, Osteuropa und Asien unterstützt. Was will man mehr?