Knox Pride's new thrift store in South Knoxville was created to provide for the LGBTQ community in more ways than one.

The Knox Pride Thriftique – combining the words "thrift" and "boutique" – opened Jan. 3 at 4044 Chapman Highway.

Knox Pride already had a clothing closet, but the thrift store model increases the volume of items offered for sale, and all the proceeds fund Knox Pride programs.

"Instead of people coming to a clothing closet, it feels like they're coming to a clothing store," executive director John Camp told Knox News. "The difference is if you don't have the ability to pay ... you can just take the clothing and go and then folks in the community that can afford to pay for things help cover the cost of the center."

The Thriftique is located at the Knox Pride Resource Center. Knox Pride, a part of the nonprofit East Tennessee Equality Council, provides resources and services to Knoxville's LGBTQ communities.

Knox Pride is hosting a grand opening from 1-6:30 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Thriftique. The shop will have door prizes, a pop-up vintage shop, a small makers market and karaoke to finish the night.

"We felt like a normal shopping experience would make people feel more comfortable coming in, and we see a lot of people, especially younger people, come to an event, they'll come to karaoke or they'll come to drag night, and then they come here and they'll pick up clothing and take it with them," Camp said.

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Every style for everyone

The Knox Pride Thriftique offers a variety of clothing and accessory options donated from members of Knox Pride and the LGBTQ community. This includes shirts, shorts, skirts, suits, pants, jackets, coats, dresses, handbags, jewelry and LGBTQ-affirming flags and pins.

The price range for most items is $3-$10, but Camp doesn't want that to deter shoppers.

The store also serves as a permanent place to purchase Knox Pride merchandise, including shirts, hats and stickers. The proceeds from merchandise and Thriftique sales fund Knox Pride events and Knox Pride Fest.

"Money is not at the root of it. Sustaining people's lives and lifestyles and ability to have jobs is kind of the main thing," Camp said. "All of our events we do are no charge to people, so the money we make from this helps cover the cost of that stuff."

Camp wants the store to be an affirming place for people to shop and feel comfortable regardless of their situation or what it is they need. He said "a lot of people come in that are interviewing for jobs" and the center can help someone find clothing, build a resume or find affirming work environments.

"Then we have people that may be transitioning," Camp said. "A lot of our trans community utilize this space, because when you're going into a whole new wardrobe, it can get very expensive. So here, that barrier kind of is removed."

Future expansions of Knox Pride's wardrobe

As it gets busier, Camp wants to highlight local pop-up vendors on Saturdays at the store. He hopes to create two or three jobs with livable wages to run the Thriftique.

Camp would like to grow the Knox Pride Thriftique into a larger space. The 2,000-square-foot location houses the store, a meeting area, a podcast studio, a food pantry and offices. He'd like to give each of those segments their own spaces.

One of the organization's next big projects is to renovate the space next door and model it after a grocery store to fight food insecurity.

"You go in and you shop, but also with our youth programs where we're teaching kids how to budget and how things cost, they can shop for groceries at everyday prices, ring them up to see what the pricing is but they still don't pay for it," Camp said. "So I think it's just part of our long-term growth goal is removing barriers and removing stigmas that people don't want to come and get help, because … there's these preconceived notions."

Knox Pride has an event calendar along with its services at knoxpride.com. The Knox Pride Thriftique is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Keenan Thomas reports for the Knox News business growth and development coverage team. You can reach him by email at keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox Pride Thriftique store opens in South Knoxville