Thrift store in Visakhapatnam sells clothes for the needy at low prices

Thrift stores are a well known social concept catching up in India. Vastra Bank is a one-of-its-kind thrift store based in Visakhapatnam. It was started by Vinay Sehgal, who owns an IT company, and Farzana Begum, who runs a gym named Fit with Fab. They have been working, over the past few months, at providing bare essentials to the underprivileged in the city. Earlier Farzana used to stay in Bangalore, where she had come across an NGO that work on similar lines. She had appreciated how the genesis of a small thrift store created great results.

Subsequently, Farzana and Vinay also came across a video of the thrift store collecting clothes and reselling them, at reasonably lower prices, to the less privileged. Building on this idea, they started Vastra Bank, a thrift store in Visakhapatnam to sell clothes at low prices for the needy .

The objective of this thrift store is to collect old clothes, of good quality, and resell them at low prices to financially weak people in Visakhapatnam. The income garnered is then used to purchase, and provide, certain essential goods to other NGOs for the real needy. They supply groceries, sanitary napkins, stationery and toiletries to the NGOs.

The idea is to create an ecosystem where the lesser privileged people will benefit. The main purpose of this Vastra Bank is to help the underprivileged and bring a change in society by educating them on donating, recycling and reusing. This bank has received a good response from day one. People from other towns and cities have also been couriering clothes and accessories to Vastra Bank.

Vastra Bank is located opposite Sri Sai Residency, D.No: 9-13-45, VIP Road, Visakhapatnam. Anyone who wishes to donate clothes may contact Vinay Sehgal (Mob no: +91 85006 36198) and Farzana Begum (Mob no: +91 7338698707).

The space where the Vastra Bank is set up was given by Hanumanthu Meghana and her family. Anyone willing to donate old wearable clothes can donate at this point.