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Every morning when the store opens we take an 850lb bale of clothing – snap open the wires and let the public shop. On Saturday & Sunday we put out multiple bales. Everything is mixed together – mens, women’s kids – every style and decade all mixed together. At various times of the week we fill tables with paired shoes, bric-a-brac, purses, bags & belts. You pay by weight, the cost is $2.00 per pound. It’s an unusual & fun way to shop and no two days are the same.
All items are $2.00/lb!
By The Pound’s road to becoming a Boston institution began in 1981 when one Saturday morning a few bales were opened on the floor of an old Cambridge soap factory. Back then it was called Dollar-A-Pound, and there were only a few hours a week you could shop through the thousands of pounds of clothing. We opened at 7:45 because people just kept coming in earlier & earlier and closed at 2:00 so that we could go out to the racetrack. Many things have changed since those days. By the Pound has been given many coats of paint & is now open 7 days a week instead of one.
This shopper’s world – Sept. 6, 2009 I came here from the West Coast, where being a little weird is normal and a lot weird is even better. At first glance, Boston seemed to be populated by straitlaced business types with places to go and corporate ladders to climb.
I was starting to wonder where the alternative types hung out – and shopped. Downtown Crossing and Newbury Street have their perks, but I was on the hunt for some quirks.
I found a little piece of indie heaven at the Garment District in Cambridge. It bills itself as an “alternative department store,’’ and it lives up to its claim. It’s a superstore of new and pre-loved clothing from the shift dresses of the 1920s to the now-trendy ’80s fashion disasters to reasonably-priced new clothes from independent designers.
It also has costume attire, jewelry, and a rainbow assortment of tights and leggings.
But I couldn’t be bothered by such frivolity; I dedicated my time to scaling the textile mountain better known as the dollar-a-pound section.
Covering most of the first floor of the store, the area is a testament to frugality, absurdity, and inefficiency. Dedicated shoppers crouch or sit on the floor and sort through mounds of clothes of various sizes, styles, and origins. No racks, no hangers, no bins. It’s an excavation.
After half an hour of digging, I had three great finds that weighed in at exactly one pound, including a black summer dress from the Gap. If my math is right, it cost me around 45 cents. Not too shabby.
by Tara Ballenger
The Garment District & Boston Costume
Monday through Friday: 11am – 8pm
Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Sunday: 11am – 7pm
By The Pound
Monday through Thursday: 11am – 8pm
Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Sunday: 11am – 7pm
We are open every day of the year except July 4th, Thanksgiving & Christmas Day.