Our promise: transparency and ethical business practices. Always.

Here at philly gurl sews, we believe that one thing lacking from many businesses is absolute transparency when it comes to business practices. So in the spirit of transparency, here's a behind the scenes look of how we've made this as ethical as possible.

 

Secondhand notions and materials:

Almost all items or materials are bought from local salvages/vintage warehouses-places that take in all the unsold leftovers from thrift stores, store closings and estate sales. Much of what they have is damaged, which is why they often price by the pound or very very cheaply.  If you're local and interested in checking these out yourself I suggest Thunderbird Salvage, Bulk Vintage and Goodwill Outlets. I suggest bringing gloves to dig around in those bins, trust me.

Once in a while, things are sourced from a select few local thrift stores. These stores are located in high income areas in the suburbs between NYC and Philly that get an overabundance of donations despite few customers. 

Sustainability:

Every item that we sell is either second hand+repaired or handmade from secondhand materials.  We do not buy mailers, and we try to limit how much we need to buy packing tape and other shipping supplies.  If you've bought from us before you've probably noticed that the mailers are reused ones from previous online purchases.  I collect these from family and friends.