At the 500-square-foot 2nd-hand apparel store at 836 E. Johnson St., there is one problem that proprietor Lindsay Leno and her staff members hear a great deal: “Where are the price tags?” 

When Leno opened Upshift Swap Shop in 2013, the simple premise was that almost nothing would be for sale. As a substitute, shoppers would convey a bag of gently made use of apparel to trade in, pay out a $20 “swap fee” and then pick new products to fill the bag. 

For Leno, who teaches style merchandising at Madison Higher education, swapping is a way of lifetime. This model, she believes, presents fresh new model with no all the squander that will come with the “fast fashion” field. She appreciates that marketplace perfectly, acquiring expended 7 several years working for a Minnesota huge box retailer in advance of going to Madison.

“I was going into function and … contributing to a thing that didn’t align with my private values,” explained Leno, a sustainability fanatic who promises she hasn’t used a dryer in 20 years. Swapping, she said, not only keeps apparel out of the landfill, but it reduces the customer’s carbon footprint mainly because clothes proceed to flow into domestically. 

With her upswept hair, colorful dress and cat eye…