Now food trucks you know about, but a fashion truck?
There is only one fashion truck in St. Louis, Rack + Clutch.
I had heard about it from a friend. We were attending a clothing swap together and she floated the idea of setting up a Rack + Clutch event. If we had enough people, perhaps it would drive to us. I was intrigued.
Buying food from Food Truck Friday is one of my favorite things, provided I beat the crowd, so it would stand to reason that I would like a mobile clothing store as well.
And I did. I loved everything about it. From the concept to the execution to my purchases, I was impressed. The truck drives to different locations in the city, including outside large businesses and parks to get lunch hour customers. (As I said, impressive and helpful idea!)
The truck is owned and operated by Emily Ponath. She started Rack + Clutch in April of 2013. Clearly, she is a smart business woman, and she couldn't have been more friendly.
Friendliness is likely one of her survival skills. You'd have to be friendly in such a small space.
When the truck had more than 5 shoppers on board (This was a party after all!) it took a little negotiating and movement planning to not bump into people or wares. But if you came in mentally prepared, that's not a problem; it's a logistical reality.
The amount of items and the layout was ingenious.
There was a check out area, dressing room with enough space to not run into anything, racks of clothes, and 2 display cases of jewelry.
As it happens, that day the truck's back rack was on sale. Everything on it was 5 dollars. The prices are generally fair (no single item over 100 dollars) but this was rock bottom low.
I snapped up several dresses (I had a wedding to go to in a few hours and nothing planned to wear) and tried them on.
True to form, I had a difficult time choosing which frock to get, so I purchased all of them for about 16 dollars.
This isn't completely representative of the pricing you'll experience on the truck when you go, so don't be misled. Mine was a right time and right place experience. I got to grab up some Winter items to make room for Spring's collection.
I would absolutely recommend following the Rack + Clutch truck on the website's calendar, Twitter, or Facebook.
Or, if you're looking for a fun get-together with girlfriends, get 15 buddies to commit and do what we did: schedule a private event.
It's fun to see such a bright truck parked in your driveway!
