On the first floor of the Forum Building on LBCC’s Albany campus is a boutique called the Clothing Connection.
Created in 2022 by members of the college’s AAWCC chapter, it started in a small room with racks gifted from the campus store and ones Lena Spencer bought at the closing sale of JC Penney. Spencer, the LBCC athletics administrative assistant, got the idea after looking for an affordable interview outfit for her daughter.
“I started with a big dream, and I had a rolling cart, and then I got two rolling carts, and I would pull them out of storage when students needed interview outfits,” she said.
With the encouragement and help from staff and others around her, Spencer was able to start building her dream.
“I had this dream of making a shop, but with Rob Camp’s encouragement and some connection to Central Oregon Community College, they have a shop like this, except theirs is a little bit different. … Lawrence (LaJoie) from the bookstore had lent me a couple of racks. Megan Pickens, Lloyd’s husband, they built two of our racks.”
In 2024, the Clothing Connection was able to move into a bigger room, where it is located currently. The boutique has a range of clothing styles and provides various items, including shirts, pants, and accessories.
“Rob Camp helped me get this space (Forum 109), and the American Association for Women in Community Colleges came together and created the financial backbone for this.”
It operates from 11 a.m. to 1.p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, although you can make an appointment at the boutique if you can’t make it within its open hours.
Most of the year, the clothes are free. But twice a year the boutique holds a $1 sale to help raise money for the AAWCC.
The Roast Runners cafe also collaborates with the Clothing Collection to collect more donated clothing.
“A couple of times a year we also do clothes for coffee in conjunction with Roastrunners, and they offer free coffee for a bag of clothing.”
The Clothing Collection continues to be sponsored by the AAWCC at LBCC. The association also awards scholarships to women and last year gave out four $1500 scholarships.
The Clothing Collection is a great resource for students or anyone that needs help with clothing and style. All the items are donated by staff and faculty at LBCC.
“Everything that we have here is donated. We have a partnership with Jackson Street Youth that now donates us socks every once in a while, which we love, and we only take new socks, but all of the other clothing that we have is donated by our staff and faculty. It’s incredible,” Spencer said.
If you have clothing that you would like to donate, bring your items to the Student Leadership Council office in Forum 120.
“We want this to feel like a boutique, like it’s for everyone. And I really stress that it’s for everyone.”
–Audrey Linder contributed to this report.
At a Glance:
Open: Tuesdays – Wednesdays 11am – 1pm (or by appointment)
Location: Forum 109 (F-109)
Contact: clothingconnection@linnbenton.edu
