Raleigh could change its mind about people selling clothes on the streets. Again.

Picture a “food” truck that sells T-shirts and hoodies instead of tacos and dumplings.

Trucks and push-carts selling clothes are a common sight in some cities, but merchants in Raleigh aren’t allowed to sell their wares on the street.

Raleigh leaders debated for over a year whether to allow clothing to be sold on public streets before the City Council voted unanimously Sept. 18 to exclude it from a list of proposed uses in the city’s ordinances.

Now, facing a community backlash, some have changed their minds.

“I think it’s fine to recognize that maybe we did vote on this too quickly and we need to take another look at it,” Mayor Nancy McFarlane said. “If people think it’s important and we get feedback people are still interested we can take another look at it.”

The backlash was swift on social media after the vote in mid-September, with McFarlane tweeting she would bring the item back for discussion. She said it could be as early as the council’s first meeting in October.

From the street to a store

There are people who sell clothing in parking lots and parking spots now and there should be a way to bring them “above board,” said John Pugh, co-owner of the Raleigh-based clothing store House of Swank.

After eight years in business, the retailer moved into a brick-and-mortar store on East Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh in March. But their first storefront was a suitcase.

“We would have not survived as a business and thrived like we have without mobile sells,” he said.

The Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, through its Shop Local Raleigh initiative, worked with the city to help craft the proposed rules and was surprised when the council removed clothing sales.

“We were disappointed this was something local leaders didn’t see as a viable economic booster and item to consider,” said Jennifer Martin, the association’s executive director.

Council member Kay Crowder, who made the motion to remove the item from the list, said during the Sept. 18 meeting that she’d tried to reach the original business that requested the change, but was unsuccessful.

That business, Pitch & Primer, asked the council to change the rules in February 2017 and was operating out of a silver Airstream trailer. Efforts to reach the owners by the N&O were unsuccessful and their Facebook page hasn’t been updated since mid-2017.

If Raleigh leaders decide to look at the rules again, it would still be months before people could sell clothes on the streets. The proposed change would have to be considered by the city’s planning commission and then brought back to the full council for a vote.

As of now, the change would only allow people to sell clothing from a trailer pulled by a vehicle or inside a recreational vehicle. The vehicle would have to fit within a parking spot and open at a maximum of four hours at one time. People could only sell clothes for two days in a row on the same property with a maximum of 10 total days within a calendar year.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 8:32 AM.