Durham is, in every sense of the word, a college town. There are pizza shops and convenience stores always stocked with late night munchies and endless amounts of beer, bars complete with students lining up and down the street to get in, and shops selling every article of clothing you can think of with UNH's logo on them. One thing it seemed to be lacking is a store that sells some of today's latest fashions.
Common Threads, located right off of Main St., has been in Durham since February. There, you can buy, sell, or trade popular styles like Abercrombie and Fitch, Polo, Express, American Eagle, and more.
Lonnie Spinelli, a graduate student in teaching at UNH, got the idea to open up her own shop from living in Boston after she graduated from college.
"I did it as a challenge to myself," Spinelli said. "I wanted to see if I could do it." What may have started as a risky business venture really took off. Common Threads first opened in Concord, where it stayed for about a year and then opened in Durham. Spinelli has found that the store is much more popular and gets better business in a college town.
"In addition to operating on a low budget," said Todd Selig, town administrator of Durham, "college students focus on style and trends more so than older residents of a community."
Most of the businesses in Durham do cater toward their 18-22 year olds, who make up a large majority of Durham's population. This is why the town of Durham transforms into somewhat of a ghost town during the summer.
"Many of the stores downtown are focused on serving the college population. We sell a lot of pizza and subs," Selig said. "Then there are places like Libby's and the Durham Marketplace that work very hard to appeal to both the students and the year-round residents."
Common Threads is one of those stores whose focus and success comes directly from college-aged kids.
"I'm excited that I found Common Threads," said Katie Lafortune, a student at UNH. "I live close by, in Somersworth, so you can bet they'll still have my business during the summer months.
"Students can shop for themselves here," Spinelli said. "They can purchase a new outfit without dropping their entire paycheck from work study on a pair of jeans."
What makes Common Threads appealing is the fact that it's affordable.
"You can come in here with $20 and buy a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a belt," Spinelli said.
The store gets a lot of students in selling their clothes. They receive a percentage of the selling price, and can chose to either get 30 percent of what it will be sold at or 50 percent in store credit.
"I think it took people a while to catch on," Spinelli said. "They don't have to wait for their item to sell before they get their money. That's what's so great about it, for college kids who need the money."
The store carries a mix between new and pre-owned clothing and also carries accessories like shoes, belts, and bags.
"The brands that I like to wear are just so expensive," said Allie Yeatts, a sophomore at UNH. "I just recently discovered Common Threads and I can't get enough of it. I can buy two full outfits for the price I would usually pay for a pair of jeans."
Resale is something new to a small town like Durham. In Boston, where Spinelli lived a few years ago, the stores could be found all over the place.
"Now that Incognito [a former clothing store located in Durham] is gone," said Spinelli, "the market is open for higher end jeans."
Those that usually go for over $200 will be somewhere under $100 at Common Threads. If you have any brand name clothing in your closet that you never wear, or if you have been too lazy to return something and months later it is still sitting in your closet, Common Threads hopes you will stop by their store on 13 Jenkins Court.
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