Our Story
Our story starts with our original founder, Nicole McGee.
Nicole was working as a reuse artist here in Cleveland (her upcycled centerpieces were at Aladdin’s Eateries across Ohio and several states) when she started dreaming of more. More people being involved in reuse art, more community, more collaboration, more impact and more fun. She started by founding Collective Upcycle in 2011, a cooperative of upcycle artists who came together to create a short-term pop-up shop to sell their items.
In partnership with leadership at St. Clair Superior Development Corporation, Nicole worked on a grant that positioned Upcycle Parts Shop as a keystone part of a creative placemaking grant. It was funded in 2013 by ArtPlace America with a goal of strengthening the social fabric of the community through creative invitation.
In early 2014 co-founder Devon Fegen-Herdman joined the team and in July of that year the pair opened the doors to their 900 square foot storefront at 6419 St. Clair Ave; Upcycle Parts Shop was born! With community organizing and social work backgrounds respectively, they conceived of much more than just a retail shop. Thanks to a series of other funders, intentional plans to partner with the community they work in, and incredible people we’ve gotten to work with along the way, Upcycle Parts Shop has become just that.
These days, Upcycle Parts Shop is it’s own 501(c)3 non-profit with a commitment to the St. Clair Superior neighborhood of Cleveland. It is also part of a new generation of non-profit organizations and projects called social enterprises, meaning that we earn revenue and are committed to doing good. Upcycle Parts Shop is a business with a triple bottom line: good for the people, good for the planet, and good for the economy. Our mission is to provoke creativity and promote community through reuse, resourcefulness, and relationships and we strive to do that every day!
We’re grateful that parts of our story have been told through media and here are a few of our favorites:
Dec 2021 Making Secondhand the First Choice by Cleveland State Magazine
Dec 2021 Letter to the Editor by customer Michael Bennett
April 2021 Spectrum News Article + Video on partnership with our neighbor David Van Horn
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Thanks for your interest and support, it’s what makes this whole thing work!