ALTON – Just in time for back-to-school shopping, the Alton Main Street Pop-Up Clothes Swap took place over the weekend in the historic ballroom of Mineral Springs Mall – and it was even larger than the spring swap in April.

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Event organizer Laura Blair said as many as 1,200 pounds of clothing was cycled back into the community from the event, which encourages people in the Riverbend to swap clothes instead of shop for them. Blair said the event last weekend was an even larger success than an April 2018 swap, partially because it is back-to-school season and people were able to pay $5 with a donation and $10 without one to fill a reusable bag with whatever is available.

“We've exceeded what we've done before,” she said in a Facebook message. “A lot of focus was on children at this swap, because it coincides with back-to-school shopping. I believe families were really able to use this resource to help get the new school year off to a good start.”

Alton Main Street Promotions Committee Co-Chair Sally Kirbach, who assisted with the event, said the event is growing with the Riverbend's environmental and community consciousness.

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“There is a great need in the area,” she said in a message. “I think people realize what an expense clothes can be and how easy it is to have an abundance build up in their closets. I think there is a big collective conscious liking the fact this event really benefits the community and environment. Not only do people get to renew their wardrobes, but they are simultaneously helping the environment, pocketbooks and others. As a parent, it's helped us a lot.”

Kirbach credited Blair with the event's inception, and thanked Dave and Donna Nunnally of It's Raining Zen for providing the space within Mineral Springs Mall's historic ballroom to host the swap. The April 2018 event was hosted in the mall's Crystal Room, which was quickly outgrown.

The fees to shop at the swap went toward Alton Main Street for its efforts to continue making Alton a community with events such as these and the upcoming Mississippi Earthtones Festival, as well as the preservation of local history and historic buildings. Kirbach added the event helps maintain Main Street's mission in the community.

“The donations at the door go to Alton Main Street,” she said. “We got behind this idea to see what kind of shops the Downtown District could benefit from. [We asked] what kind of need is in the area. The question was: 'is there a need for a retail thrift stop in downtown?'”

“This swap just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Blair said. “It's almost doubled from the last one.”

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