WVU student entrepreneurs breathe new life into thrifted threads at Old School

WVU students Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries opened Old School, their secondhand apparel boutique, at 360 High Street in downtown Morgantown in May. (WVU Photo/Katelyn Short)

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West Virginia University undergraduates Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries started small, collaborating to sell fashion finds on social media - WVU gear, graphic tees, sneakers and more.

Then their resale operations grew. And grew. And grew.

Operations moved into a storage unit, where they offered by-appointment shopping. This makeshift setup fueled their retail dreams, and Cavender and Jeffries began envisioning a brick-and-mortar location that could connect their business with the community.

They turned their vision into reality in May with the launch of Old School, a downtown Morgantown boutique for finds like sneakers, vintage clothing, hats and records. Tucked within a historic building on High Street, the boutique glows with sunlight that spills through the front windows, feeding the plants scattered throughout and drawing in passersby.

Old School, the downtown Morgantown boutique owned and operated by WVU students Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries, is shown during an event held earlier this year. (WVU Photo/Katelyn Short)

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The space they have conjured is minimalist yet lived in. Oversized lounge chairs nestle in the center of the shop atop a creamy carpet of flowers. A glass table, its surface littered with magazines, invites shoppers to relax and linger. The high walls are traced by ornamental molding that acknowledges the building's past and are peppered with posters that celebrate contemporary culture. Clothing racks create vibrant lines of color and pattern, punctuated by stacks of hats and displays of sneakers.

Every item at Old School is hand selected, cleaned and displayed with care, with inventory refreshed weekly. For them, sustainability is just as important as style, and Cavender and Jeffries source many of the pieces locally.

Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries, co-owners of Old School in Morgantown, select every item for sale in their store and add new items to the inventory weekly. (WVU Photo/Katelyn Short)

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"We want to be a well-curated store that's also affordable. I prefer older items to the fast fashion they're producing now, which is of lower quality yet still more expensive," Cavender said.

With shared roots in Preston County and the thrifting community, both students are seniors, managing a business workload and an academic course load at the same time. Cavender is a public health major in the WVU School of Public Health with a minor in marketing from the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics.

Jeffries, a communication studies major at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is minoring in entrepreneurship at the Chambers College.

Launching a retail storefront while going to college brought benefits as well as challenges, they said, allowing them to access resources like the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab, a one-stop shop for WVU innovation and commercialization. LaunchLab holds pitch competitions where student entrepreneurs can win cash awards to fund their startups, and Cavender was able to add $1,000 to their balance sheet after her victory in LaunchLab's Safety Pitch Competition.

At the end of March, Cavender and Jeffries signed their lease on High Street and leapt into renovations just as final exams began to loom on the horizon. Peers pitched in, taking shifts while the two attended classes.

Business continues to grow at Old School and owners Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries plan to continue thinking outside of the box to draw customers in like with their Sip & Thrift events. (WVU Photo/Katelyn Short)

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Now, with business booming, they said they're focused on building a lasting impact on the local community with Sip & Thrift events during which crowds of several hundred have gathered at the Morgantown Co-Op to enjoy music, cocktails and mocktails and to shop Old School's wares and those of nine other vendors selected by Cavender and Jeffries.

"Starting a business definitely takes another level of crazy and determination," Jeffries said. "If we'd waited until we graduated, this space might not have been available. Nothing's guaranteed, so when the right moment comes, you have to do it."

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