Just a few months after celebrating his graduation from BW, Noah Mowery's vintage clothing store, The Thrifting Tree, celebrated its grand opening just a block away from the BW campus.
Noah Mowery '25 has prevented thousands of pieces of clothing from ending up in landfills through his online store, The Thrifting Tree, a venture he started as a middle schooler.
Now, the May 2025 Baldwin Wallace University grad, who double majored in management and innovation and human resource management, is making the leap to a brick-and-mortar vintage clothing shop to house a "thriving brand that curates high-quality, affordable vintage pieces for customers who care about both style and the environment."
"Opening a physical store has always been the dream," Mowery explained. "And this year, I finally decided to go for it."
After Mowery got the keys to the space at 44 W. Bridge Street in Berea in August, he got to work renovating the ahead of the grand opening on September 20.
"When I found this place on W. Bridge, it needed a lot of work, but something about it just felt right," Mowery said. "I've been pouring everything into transforming it. It's been a total DIY build out, and I've been documenting the whole journey online: the good, the messy and everything in between."
As he told us a year ago, the Medina, Ohio, native started his thrifting business when he was in middle school, aiming to sell "cool vintage clothing" to his friends even before he recognized that resale was also good for the planet.
"I noticed the trend of dressing in vintage was becoming very popular online, so I began selling clothing on eBay. My middle school side hustle quickly became a full-time occupation for me in high school," he added.
Mowery later expanded his reach by leveraging Instagram and, while studying at BW, rebranded as The Thrifting Tree and launched his own e-commerce website.
Now, the May grad credits BW LaunchNET, Powered by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, with giving him "the tools and confidence to believe I could actually pull this off." LaunchNET support included three micro-grants and "people in my corner," he said.
"On top of this, the BW student community has been supporting me through my pop-ups [hosted in the Strosacker Union] and website drops since I started to ramp things up with my business around junior year. It's wild to think how far it's all come."
When Mowery launched the storefront business on Saturday, September 20, the store was packed with shoppers combing through racks filled with "tons of vintage pieces from the '70s to the early '00s" and Mowery promises to be regularly restocking and "constantly evolving."
“Today, has shown me yet again that chasing your dreams and giving your all to what you’re passionate about can change your life," Mowery said. "I hope students and other people my age see this and are inspired to break out of any box holding them down to chase those dreams.”
"It's not just my store; it's my life's work and dream finally coming to life. It still feels surreal that it's actually happening."
To find out more about The Thrifting Tree, "a vintage clothing business dedicated to sustainability, self-expression and the fight against fast fashion waste," visit The Thrifting Tree online.
