Blazers, blouses and a bigger purpose: Inside Seoul’s campus thrift shops

Campus thrift shops at Ewha and Sahmyook universities offer budget-friendly finds like 3,000-won textbooks and 10,000-won blazers. Run with a social mission, proceeds support scholarships and jobs for people with disabilities.

Clothes hung up at the Ewha Eco Shop on June 13. [LEE TAE-HEE]

University textbooks for 3,000 won ($2.20), a blazer for less than 10,000 won and a blouse also for 3,000 won.

While the prices may sound like something out of a Black Friday sale, it’s nothing unusual at the Ewha Eco Shop — a thrift store located on the Ewha Womans University campus in Seodaemun District, western Seoul.

The shop is on the second basement floor of the university’s Human Ecology Building and operates on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

As a thrift store, the Ewha Eco Shop sells secondhand clothing, shoes and goods donated by students and alumni. While not every item follows the latest fashion trends, the shop offers visitors a chance to discover vintage pieces at affordable prices.

Jeans are sold for between 3,000 and 10,000 won, while jackets and blazers range from 9,000 to 20,000 won.

Visitors browsing the racks will often find clothes from brands like SPAO and Mixxo, thanks to regular donations from E-Land Group, the apparel company behind both labels. E-Land donates unused stock to the store.

During a visit last Friday, two racks were filled with 2024-season E-Land clothes — blouses and pants priced between 3,000 and 10,000 won apiece. Some blouses were missing buttons and priced on the lower end. Dresses ranged from 9,000 to 17,000 won.

Designer brand Lang & Lu, co-founded by alumna Byeon Hye-jung, also regularly donates unused clothing. Although higher priced by the shop’s standards, jackets and dresses from the brand sell for around 20,000 won — a steep discount from their original retail price of about 200,000 won.

“We have various students and alumni donate items to the store,” said a spokesperson for Ewha Womans University. “Since 2023, Isu Management, a social enterprise focused on hiring people with disabilities, has been running the business.”

Founded in 2011, the shop was originally managed by the university co-op. Since 2023, Isu Management — established by Ewha Hakdang Foundation — has taken over operations. The company also manages Ewha Store and Ewha Cafe locations on campus, and employs people with disabilities at the venues and at Ewha-affiliated hospitals in Gangseo and Yangcheon Districts in western Seoul.

Beyond clothing, the shop also offers another hidden gem — secondhand university textbooks.

On the store’s bookshelf, titles such as “Organizational Behavior” by Stephen Robbins and Timothy Judge — used in the university’s Managing Organizational Behavior course — were available, with the 18th edition priced at 10,000 won and the 16th edition at 3,000 won.

The 11th edition of “Strategic Management” by the same authors sold for 3,000 won, and a copy of the fourth edition of “Principles of Economics” by N. Gregory Mankiw was available for just 1,500 won.

Ewha Womans University isn’t the only school running a charitable thrift shop that allows students to shop affordably while supporting a cause.

Sahmyook University operates the Sahmyook Sarang Shop, run by a volunteer organization made up of professors’ spouses. Proceeds are donated to the university’s international student scholarship fund.

Located just inside the university’s main gate in Nowon District, northern Seoul, the Sahmyook Sarang Shop stands out — a large shipping container painted with colorful flowers, near the campus gymnasium.

The Sahmyook Sarang Shop, at Sahmyook University's campus in Nowon District, northern Seoul. [LEE TAE-HEE]

While closed most of the time, the shop comes to life every Wednesday when it opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., though operating hours may vary. Clothes, shoes and food are laid out both inside the container and on tables outside, with volunteers selling the goods to students and passersby.

“We sometimes receive clothing donations from apparel companies, and even farm produce from farmers,” a Sahmyook University spokesperson said. “And beyond that, many people also donate money after learning what the Sahmyook Sarang Shop does.”

Since its opening in 2020, the shop has raised a total of 230 million won in scholarships, supporting 165 international students. In 2024 alone, it donated 50.8 million won to support 31 international students.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]