APU Seniors Alexa McClurg and Blake Matrone have started the tote business ‘Scrapped,’ a shop dedicated to tranforming recycled clothing into trendy totes.
How It Started
Business management major, Blake Matrone, and graphic design major Alexa McClurg have a new, small business making tote bags out of recycled clothing. With their love of thrift and fashion, they teamed up to find ways how they could take their love of thrifting and expand it into something more meaningful. What better way to do so than ethically produce totes?
Matrone and McClurg found thatmore than 80% of clothing is ending up in landfills, and they sought out a way to give back by revamping recycled clothes instead of letting them go to waste.
“We already enjoy thrifting and using recycled clothing and turning them into tote bags and keeping them out of landfills is a huge benefit,” says Matrone.
Their business started in Matrone’s small bedroom in a Rosedale community and now has expanded to McClurg’s garage, where they havemore space to create. So far, they have created their tote bags out of recycled Harley Davidson t-shirts, denim jeans, table cloths and more. They have also created Instagram, TikTok and Depop social media accounts for “Scrapped” to get the word out about the brand.
Relationship vs. Business
McClurg and Matrone had been friends for over a year and dating for a couple of months before starting their business. They have been able to balance their relationship and business by putting effort into “Scrapped” while also enjoying the activities they get to do together.
“In the actual business side of things she does most of the cutting, a lot of the design work, and handling social media. I am pretty much doing the sewing, handling the money and business side of things,” explains Matrone. That is where their majors come in handy and help them ensure they are capable in their business roles.
Putting in hours of their time making bags and going on endless shopping trips to thrift stores mightseem taxing, but it’s something the couple has always enjoyed doing together..
“It gives us something fun to do together. It doesn’t feel like we’re running a business, we’re doing stuff that we enjoy doing together,” says McClurg.
Future Plans
The official drop date for Scrapped is March 14th, where they will be selling 15-20 bags on Depop, a social shopping app. As of now, their bags will be sold exclusively on Depop, but they plan to create an official website in the future. They will be mailing out the orders themselves and free shipping is guaranteed for all customers. If you are local, they have yet to figure out how to handle shipping, but they assure your tote will be delivered to you in an easy, timely manner. Plans for a future drop are up in the air, with a possibility of 50 bags being available for purchase.
Make sure to stay connected on their Instagram and TikTok @Scrapped.co and purchase a bag on Depop @Scrappedco on March 14th!