Celebrating ACR’s 10th Brick & Mortar Birthday!

While ACR existed as an organization for many years before we had a physical space to call home, opening Austin’s first creative reuse center and growing into the largest creative reuse center in Texas and one of the largest in the country is kind of a big deal! Take a trip down memory lane with us as we highlight some of the biggest moments from the last decade of creative reuse in a permanent physical space. From our earliest days at the Linc shopping center, to our current location in Windsor Park, our community has continued to support and uplift us and we couldn’t do what we do without all of our supporters! Thanks to each and every one of you who have donated to us, volunteered with us, worked with us, referred friends and family to us, or just cheered us on from afar! Here’s to a great 10 years of creative reuse in Austin and many more years to come!

2015

Although ACR had existed as an organization for many years, we opened our first retail space and Austin’s first creative reuse center at the Linc shopping center on September 26, 2015. Rebecca Stuch, our founder, and Carole LeCLair, our past and present Board President, toasted to a successful opening day of 33 customers, with our very first sale shown here.

2016

We held a ribbon cutting ceremony, complete with champagne, on February 13, 2016 and continued to grow into our 1,600 sq ft space, filling it with creative materials donated by the community. We hired our very first employee, having been entirely volunteer-run up until this point! To this day, volunteers account for roughly 50% of the labor that keeps ACR running.

2017

We hosted craft nights, workshops, and school field trips, sharing the beauty of creative reuse with the community. In June, we received a huge donation of fabric from a local business that closed its doors, Silk Road, and we held a one-day fabric sale in an additional rented space. The success of the fabric sale encouraged us to look for a larger space to grow into.

2018

We continued to share the power of creative reuse with the community, hosting many classes and workshops. Although we had located a new space that could accommodate our growing needs (our current Windsor Park location!) we could not yet afford the lease, so we stayed at the Linc until it became financially feasible to move.

2019

Supporting educators and keeping valuable school supplies out of the landfill has been core to our mission from the very beginning. We hosted school supply drives to collect unwanted school supplies and redistribute them back into the community. We continued to host workshops, classes, and birthday parties all centered around creative reuse.

2020

We closed our location at the Linc and moved into our current Windsor Park location just days before the pandemic hit. Before the move, we held a skating party in our 11,000 sq ft space for staff and volunteers. During the closure, we opened our online store and offered virtual personal shopping sessions and sidewalk sales. We also hosted our first Reuse Markets to support local artists.

2021

In June, we diverted our 1 millionth pound of creative materials from the landfill. We also built out our workshop/classroom space, which went on to host hundreds of classes, workshops, parties, and other community events. In November, we hosted our first Reuse on the Runway fashion show, inviting local creatives to show off their best reuse looks!

2022

Due to popular demand, we continued to host and expand our reuse markets. We built a float for the Austin Pride Parade in August, made entirely out of reuse materials. Many of the decorations from the float can be seen adorning our center to this day! In November we hosted the second Reuse on the Runway fashion show at our center, showcasing more reuse fashion.

2023

In March, we expanded to create Volunteer Land, our dedicated space for volunteers and volunteer groups. In June, we diverted our 2 millionth pound of creative materials from the landfill. We began offering our first Materials Mobile visits, using a rented van to bring creative and educational materials to local schools for teachers to select at no cost to themselves.

2024

Thanks to a grant from Impact Austin, we were able to acquire a truck and trailer to expand our Materials Mobile visit capacity. In May, we hosted our third Reuse on the Runway fashion show, our first at the Branch Park Pavilion. In August, we hosted our first pay-what-you-can Educator Extravaganza, inviting local educators to stock up on supplies for the new school year.

2025

In May, we diverted our 3 millionth pound of creative materials from the landfill. In August, we hosted our second pay-what-you-can Educator Extravaganza, partnering with AISD to host a resource fair for educators at the event. In September, we hosted our fourth Reuse on the Runway fashion show, our second at the Branch Park Pavilion.

Stay tuned for all that we accomplish in the next 10 years!