WEST LIBERTY, W.Va.- Spread across the second floor of West Liberty University’s Student Union are quiet office spaces filled with naked mannequins and colorful garments hung upon overstuffed hangers. The air is thick with a stale, sweet dust that coats the donations that keep Topper Thrift, WLU’s campus thrift store, stocked. What began in 2022 as a student dream of sustainable style now sits somewhere between transition and transformation.
Some students may remember Topper Thrift from its early days on the first floor of Main Hall or from 2024, when it moved down the hall to a larger space. But today, its presence feels uncertain. The last social media post, a “closed for the summer” notice, went up on May 5, 2025, and the store hasn’t been active on social media or on campus since.
Topper Thrift started in 2022 as a marketing capstone project, a chance for students to test real-world business skills while promoting sustainable fashion. That first October, the store recorded 120 sales interactions.
By fall 2024, the store seemed to hit another peak. On September 25, it reopened for the semester with nearly 200 visitors and 70 sales on its first day. Students had already upcycled 352 items, aiming for 1,500 by the semester’s end. The numbers were promising, but the pace of growth remained uneven.
Despite challenges, collaboration has consistently been a strength for the store. Topper Thrift has partnered with the Sewing Club and International Office on a Shibori workshop in October 2024. These projects show that while Topper Thrift can spark engagement across campus, sustaining consistent sales and activity over time has proven more challenging.
The initial idea originated with faculty and marketing students who turned it into a functioning retail operation. Sydney Burkle, one of the original students involved, said the project was meant to be “sustainable and accessible for students on campus.”
Burkle described the store’s origins as a cooperative effort between faculty and students. “It was a very small thought, and the marketing students were like, ‘yes, we could run with this,’” she said. She recalled the early logistical work: “We had to figure out how to get all of the items into the store and in a retail fashion.”
The founders planned for continuity by building student-worker roles and proposing a graduate assistantship. “When I left my senior year, someone in the College of Business was writing a graduate assistant job description for Topper Thrift,” Burkle said. That plan, she explained, was meant to provide a consistent structure intended to help the store survive between graduating classes.
Despite that planning, Topper Thrift has faced practical challenges: frequent relocations, faculty turnover, and an overwhelming volume of donations. The store has moved locations 3 times since its opening. Burkle’s recollection of those early, visible days contrasts with the quieter current presence on campus.
Numbers show that Topper Thrift has remained resilient through changes in leadership, location, and operations. However, students are forming opinions during this transition period.
Daniel Burton, a sophomore transfer student, doesn’t know of Topper Thrift’s existence. When asked about the idea of a campus thrift store, he responded to it not as an entity that exists, but rather as an idea.
“I think that’d be a cool idea,” Burton said. “Get rid of stuff that people might think is worthless. It might be somebody else’s treasure.” To him, the idea makes sense, but the lack of visibility doesn’t. “Unless you really advertise it, I don’t feel like a lot of people are going to hear about it unless people are constantly talking about it, you know what I mean?”
His answer highlights a broader challenge. Without consistent marketing or word-of-mouth, Topper Thrift may not be visible to students during their transition.
WLU senior Taylor Haught reminisces on the store’s heyday. “I feel like me and a lot of my friends were there at that time,” she said. “Not only have their events and special deals decreased over time, but I don’t hear anything about them anymore. Like, if you told me they didn’t exist anymore, I’d be like, okay, yeah. I don’t hear anybody talk about them anymore.”
For Haught, the change isn’t just about fewer sales or events. It’s about the loss of visibility. “There was a lot of effort put forth towards marketing it and making sure that students were aware of it, where it was, what the hours were,” she said. “Over time, there were events like fashion shows or pop-ups in the Union, and they even showed up at the organization fair. But lately, that presence just isn’t there.”
Still, Haught’s perspective isn’t without hope. Even as the store appears to be reconstructing its business model, she believes it deserves another chance. “It’s worth trying everything on campus,” Haught said. “If someone seems like they have an idea that’s worth looking into, that could be you one day—the person with an idea you want others to believe in or give a shot.”
So, who is tasked with the store’s renaissance? Well, the answer is WLU junior Shea Wimberly.
After applying to be a worker for the store, Wimberly was offered a managerial position. “But I’m doing a lot of things,” Wimberly said. As she takes on opening the store as the sole worker of Topper Thrift, she plans to wear “a lot of hats.” Wimberly is intentional about the vibe she wants to create. “I really want to make it like somewhere interesting to be in,” she said.
At the same time, she’s frank about the workload and current limits. With federal work study being limited, most work would need to be on a volunteer basis. However, Wimberly added that she has received “a couple of emails from some students about wanting to get involved or work in the store,” and hopes that student help will grow as the store opens.
Even with challenges, Wimberly is working to make the store functional and accessible in a practical sense. She pointed out her idea of expanding the professional clothing section at the thrift: “All business clothes are going to be free, and it’s also going to be open 24/7.” That plan aims to remove a barrier for students needing an interview or classroom-appropriate clothing.
Students and founders alike frame Topper Thrift as evidence of what student-led enterprises require. The project provided real-world retail and marketing experience for business students. Burkle urged that “in a community like ours, being given the opportunity to participate in a legitimate business is something that people likely take for granted.” She emphasized that those learning opportunities matter and that the campus should find ways to sustain them.
Looking forward, the broader question is how campus resources and community involvement can support such initiatives. Topper Thrift began as a campus resource for clothing and experiential learning; maintaining that resource will require stable staffing, coordinated funding, and visible promotion so students know it exists. When that support returns, the store could streamline its grand opening.
Good ideas don’t go stale — they need momentum, people, and infrastructure. For Topper Thrift, that means more than donated items on a rack; it means a plan for continuity that stitches student creativity to institutional support. When a community invests in its ideas, they last. With that same spirit, Topper Thrift can continue to thrive.
