Kaylie Arnold spends her professional career flying around the world as a flight attendant. Several years ago she combined her job and her passion for thrifting into a side business.
On a spring Sunday at the Riverside Farmers’ Market, Karly Valen sifted through racks of clothes at the Haggle Haus fashion truck — including some vintage pieces. But what makes these thrifted clothes unique is that many come from around the world.
Valen is a regular at Haggle Haus — which was started in 2020 by flight attendant Kaylie Arnold.
During layovers in foreign cities, Arnold found herself with extra time and a need to fill it. She began going to thrift stores. Arnold would not only buy items for herself, but also to give as gifts to loved ones.
After some time, she decided to open Haggle Haus because she wanted people in Reno to experience fashion from other parts of the world.
“I love seeing who finds what, what's gonna go home with who. That's always fun to me, it's like, it found its person,” she said.
Valen has become a regular at Haggle Haus. She tries to stop by at least once a month, to look through the newest finds or for a conversation. Valen connected with Arnold over their shared love of fashion.
“I love being a fashion queen, and Kaylie and I have connected on that in the past. It’s really fun coming in here,” she said. “I love all the splashes of colors and everything that she has and how she puts it together, it's all color coordinated. I think that she breathes whimsy into the Reno thrift scene.”
Valen first discovered the truck in 2022 when she was also a vendor at the farmers market.
Arnold makes it a point of connecting with her regulars. Sometimes they don’t find what they’re looking for, but Arnold doesn’t forget.
“Once somebody says, I've really been looking for, like, a checkered scarf, it sticks in my brain until I find it. So if I come across it thrifting, you will have it. I did not forget,” she said.
For Arnold, her love for thrifting didn’t have its roots in those stores around the world. It began somewhere closer to home — with her grandmother Janice, a fiery woman who was always looking for the best deal.
As a child they would rummage garage sales together, but Arnold didn’t fully enjoy second hand shopping until she was in college.
“That was kind of our bonding thing, as we'd go thrifting together. I started realizing how many gems I could find,” she said.
She still recalls a linen dress she bought in Milan.
“It was a red, like 100% linen dress that I got in Milan, and it was so pretty. It had buttons all the way down the front and like a little sweetheart neckline. That was a fun find,” she said.
Just like her grandmother, she always takes pride in telling people where she got an item from as well as the deal she got.
Over the years, Arnold's business has become more than just about fashion.
“What I didn’t love about the fashion industry in general is the amount of waste… but everybody needs clothes,” she said.
That disconnect between self-expression and sustainability has shaped Haggle Haus into what it is now, a thrift shop making fashion affordable, personal, and less disposable.
This is what accidentally drew Alex Carnine to the truck years ago after Sunday yoga at the farmer’s market.
“I would stop at this quite colorful, inviting truck… all these fun thrifted items are usually hard to find,” she said.
She’s been working there for three years, connected to Arnold by a shared belief in secondhand shopping.
Like Arnold, Carnine said thrifting has been part of her life since childhood.
“My entire life my mom took me to Goodwill as a little girl, and I just never really stopped,” Carnine said.
That mindset followed her into college where she studied natural resources and wildlife technology. She said sustainability is part of why thrifting still matters to her today.
“One step at a time for saving the environment and I really hope and pray that people can find a way to just do secondhand shop instead of, you know, in stores, because it's just better for the environment,” she said.
Back at the truck, hangers clinked as new customers walked up and began looking through the clothes. Valen finishes a conversation with Carnine and leaves laughing and smiling.
