Tagless: Free Clothing Store for Families & Fashionistas

“The nonprofit’’s main goal is to provide a community service helping young people build their confidence from the outside in.”

— Tagless Facebook page

Tagless Sign

From the curb, Tagless looks just like any other stylish clothing store on Herkimer Main Street.

Tagless Window

There are mannequins showing off the hottest styles and dressing rooms for trying clothes — all designed to Tagless as much like a real clothing store as possible.

Tagless Interior

Inside, shoppers can browse racks and take home up to five free clothing items per week.

Tagless brochures

Tagless also helps to distribute critical information on health and wellness, social services, COVID-19 and more.

Tagless Shop

From the free clothing to the design of the space, Tagless offers an invaluable opportunity to ensure that all youth and kids can afford quality clothing and feel good about the experience of choosing it.

Photos ©Community Workshop LLC

Where: 246 North Main Street, Herkimer

What: Free Clothing Store

An unusual new store has opened up on Herkimer’s Main Street — a free clothing store. Tagless carries name brands and stylish clothing for kids ages 5-18, but you won’t find a price tag anywhere. It’s designed to look and feel like a quality clothing store, with new or nearly-new items including many high-end brands. There are changing rooms and a check-out counter, with friendly volunteer staff, but Tagless doesn’t take a dime — kids can take up to five free clothing items per week.

Why: Everyone deserves quality food, shelter and clothes.

Unfortunately, good quality clothes aren’t easy to find on a budget. Even thrift stores can be pricy, especially when you are shopping for a family or don’t have a steady paycheck. At the same time, it’s hard to get a steady paycheck or go to school everyday without good quality clothes.

James and Becky Wiederman of Ilion opened up Tagless, a nonprofit, specifically to meet the needs of kids and families struggling with affordability. They focus on providing high quality, new (or nearly new) clothes in order to build self-esteem and make sure that no kids feels left out due to lack of clothes. They’ve built Tagless with their own funds, community donations, and support from generous large donors.

More:

• Donate! — Help Tagless raise $1,000 this month during its holiday fundraiser

• Follow — Find Tagless on Facebook at @taglessherkimer

• Read more — “Tagless: New store in Herkimer offers free clothing for school children” (Times Telegram article)

Get inspired:

• Empty spaces: If you’d like to open a free clothing store (or any other shop offering a community service), look around for a vacant storefront with a friendly landlord and ask whether they’d let you use it for free (or very little) until the space rents. Getting something in the space is a great way to market it to others. if you don’t want a whole storefront, see if an existing business would let you use just a corner.

• Pop-up shops: If you’d like to try your own free clothing store (or free food store, or anything else), try a pop-up or temporary version before committing to the real thing. Find a space you can borrow for a week or even a day, get some friends to help you gather donations, and publicize it. Pop-up shops often grow into long-term businesses over time.

• Stores as service providers: Tagless offers a great service by partnering with social service agencies and organizations to distribute critical health, safety and public benefits info to clients. Teaming up helps both stores and agencies do more with less and draw in new customers or clients.