Just a Girl in a Thrift Store

ModCloth started as an outlet for a teenage “thrifter.” Susan Gregg-Koger spent weekends and summers in high school thrift-store shopping with friends and found herself unable to pass up a great find in any size. Susan’s closet was soon full of vintage wares she could not wear.

With the help of her boyfriend (now husband) Eric Koger, Susan turned thrifting into a modest money-making hobby by launching a website in 2002. She had a sale the first day.

Six years later, Susan and Eric turned ModCloth into a career. Susan searches the world for small designers and unique pieces that fit her customers’ discriminating tastes. Eric runs the business, using his web expertise to rocket ModCloth to the top of Google searches for numerous hot keywords.

A Career of Shopping

Susan never thought of shopping as a career. ModCloth came simply out of her desire to buy and share amazing vintage clothes. Her good taste and Eric’s web savvy prompted them in 2005 to make a major life decision: Do they leap into ModCloth fulltime, or let it go as a hobby?

Increasing web traffic, sales, and internet presence convinced the pair to continue the ModCloth momentum. They flew to Las Vegas in 2006 for their first trade show, arriving at the start of 10 miles of clothes with no idea how the industry worked or what to expect.

Susan now flies around the world to trade shows, always seeking for the next hot unknown designer. Eric turned his focus to business, completing an MBA from Carnegie Mellon with a focus in entrepreneurship. They now have a successful business with an internationally recognized brand, and a website viewed by over 4,000,000 people in the last three years.

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