The following article appeared in the Dec. 15, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Small business profile: From trash to treasure (and sometimes to creepy dolls), meet Upcycle Arts
by Lindsey Banks
Not every craft store can say it’s received a bag of tiny figurines “mooning, like pulling their pants down” or a preprinted fabric panel of Henry Cavill from “The Witcher” shaped like a body pillow. But for Upcycle Arts, donations like these are part of the daily rhythm.
The nonprofit creative reuse shop in Eastway Crossing shopping center has quickly become a distinctive creative hub in Charlotte — part craft-supply store, part sustainability initiative and part gathering space for local artists and crafters, especially when big-box craft store Jo-Ann Fabrics went out of business earlier this year.
Though the second-hand art supply shop has been in its current location for only about a year and a half, Upcycle Arts’ roots stretch back to 2020, when founder and director Angela Kollmer began experimenting with ways to bring creative reuse to Charlotte.
“We first started doing pop-up markets,” Kollmer said, “but people hated it; it didn’t go well. People want finished products at a market; they don’t want the supplies to make something.”
From there, the organization shifted to craft events and small art installations, with a 170 s.f. basement space at the VAPA Center to store donations, “the size of our bathroom now,” Kollmer joked. “Because of that space, we were able to afford this one.”
At its storefront off Eastway Drive, Upcycle Arts receives anywhere between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of donations a month on an appointment basis, all sorted by a small staff of six and volunteers. This year, the store has received over 39,000 pounds of donations.
What comes in the doors ranges from brand-new craft kits to gently used and leftover craft project items like knitting needles, yarn, fabric and scrapbooking paper, to oddities that don’t always make it to the shelves, like a bag of cough drop wrappers, Kollmer said. Most items are priced at roughly half of retail value, or less if the packaging has been opened, making it a go-to stop for teachers, families with small children and artists.
Upcycle Arts also hosts workshops and programming each month, taught by staff or paid guest artists, covering everything from sewing basics to cardboard gingerbread houses. One of Kollmer’s favorites is the annual creepy doll workshop around Halloween, where participants use donated doll parts to create their own doll.
Workshops are intentionally multigenerational — “8-year-olds next to 60-year-olds creating,” Kollmer said — and most beginner sessions cost just $10.
Local artist Asher Shepherd, who works at Gear Goat Xchg a few doors down, shops with Upcycle Arts and sells his creations at pop-up markets.
“I really like the whole concept of getting things that would potentially otherwise go to a landfill and putting it to use,” Shepherd told The Ledger. He uses donated yarn and paper to make fiber art, like crochet stuffed animals, and papercrafts, like shadow boxes, bookmarks and cards.
As Upcycle Arts grows, Kollmer hopes to expand its reach and bring more people in from all over the county. For now, the store continues to prove that inspiration can come from even the oddest materials — whether it’s a bag of foot-shaped stress balls donated by a podiatrist’s office, or dozens of embroidered quilt squares featuring state flowers.
Lindsey Banks is assistant editor for The Charlotte Ledger. Reach her at [email protected].
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