Andrew Frenkel stops in the back of his new shop, H Street Thrift (1108 H St. NE), to answer a question from a little girl about 6 years old.
“How much is this?” she asks him, fingering a soft sweatshirt.
“It’s free,” he says to her. “You can have it. You can have any of these clothes you’d like.”
The girl, unaccustomed to being allowed to shop, let alone without limits, is astounded.
“Really?” she says, looking around her.
Frenkel smiles at her. “Yes,” he says. “Take whatever you need. Touch everything!”
The girl’s eyes go wide at this big “yes”. When she enters a store, she’s accustomed to hearing “no”.
But Frenkel wants to give her the experience, together with the sweaters she’ll require as the weather cools. That’s his goal at H Street Thrift —to fill a need. Children’s clothing, shoes and underwear are free as are men’s and women’s suits, plus blankets, feminine hygiene products and first aid materials.
But you can also shop the store. There’s a shelf of boots, a table of belts and bags and racks of clothing. Frenkel’s eclectic eye has styled a mannequin in a Hawaiian shirt with a large scarf and cargo khakis and it just works.
If you’re able, you can buy what you want at H Street Thrift —most things have a tag— but those who are unable to do so are welcome to take what they need. And Frenkel welcomes donations from the community that he will either sell to fund his work or give away to neighbors in need.
The H Street Thrift storefront is the base for Frenkel’s big dream: to help District residents in need and be a galvanizing force in the revitalization of H Street NE.
“It’s a beautiful, flavorful creative people who get overlooked because of demographics and address,” he said.
Opened in August, the shop is part of his 501(c) (1) nonprofit organization, H Street Community Outreach. Frenkel is moving quickly to work with established organizations. Inside the shop are three workshare spaces —one houses HIPS outreach, the other a nurse offering R certification to medical providers; he’s using the third at the moment as a recording studio, but welcomes interest from all others.
But he’s also having fun —check out the hstreet.thrift Instagram for proof (and outfit inspo!) You’ll know him immediately. Frenkel is a striking figure, about six feet tall with wavy platinum hair, his neck tattooed to the jawline; art also covers his arms and legs. His style is edgy and, like the shop, diverse, genderless and fun. It’s worth a visit just to see what he’s wearing today: flowing wide-leg pants with sleeveless crop tee; a pink suit over a t-shirt; a two-tone jean jacket with a patch on the back that says “Holy F**king Hell” over canvas work pants and motorcycle boots; a nylon jacket and shiny silver skirt. He can pick a gem out of a pile and put it together in a way that makes a scrap of cloth look like gold.
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Frenkel’s got a lot of balls in the air. In addition to the thrift shop, there’s a community workspace. He fosters at least one puppy, who rules the shop next to his own cocker spaniel, Henry. He established his for-profit business, Smooshheads, in 2023.
Born in Virginia Beach to a successful eye surgeon, Frenkel started at VCU in 2008, quickly deciding that the retail career he had started on the side had more potential. For the next twelve years, he moved all over the U.S., opening stores for Urban Outfitters, learning about the widely varying cultures of US cities. In 2013, he became a business consultant, helping brands get off the ground (his most famous client is Stichfix, which he helped to launch that year).
But a retail opportunity in 2019 caused him to reassess his life direction. He entered television singing competition The Voice. (His most notable song is the ballad, “By My Side.”) He landed a recording contract, g in 2020. Just days later, the pandemic hit, derailing his plans and changing his life.
For the next year, Frenkel chose yet another path, living in his van, traveling city to city in of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and eventually living back in his hometown of Virginia Beach. His experience living an untethered life among people already on the margins but pushed off the page by the pandemic gave him an even deeper understanding of the layers that make up city communities.
Realizing he had more to give than take, Frenkel found comfort in his home city, planning to ground himself and decide what was next. The opportunity came in 2021, when a friend’s daughter moved to the District to attend Howard University. Intrigued by the culture around cannabis, the two became partners and opened Taste Budz (317 Pennsylvania Ave. SE), which received approval in August as a social equity applicant to become a medical cannabis dispensary. Taste Budz, Frenkel said, was intended to educate and advocate around cannabis, not only to sell product.
Serving as Chief Managing Officer (CMO) for two years, Frenkel has stepped down and re-directed his ions towards helping the community after finding the complicated regulations around medical dispensaries in the District prohibitive. Instead of trying to do the impossible, Frenkel decided to see what was possible.
After helping entrepreneurs launch their businesses for the previous 15 years, he wanted to do it for himself. He wanted to be closer to the people and the culture, he said, able to immediately respond to what he sees happening on the ground.
And Frenkel likes what he sees on H Street NE. He’s not naive —he knows that, like in any big city, there is crime on the street. But, he said, H Street is different.
His goal, he said, is to give the opportunity to walk in and just shop to those who rarely get to do so. He also wants to help connect them with opportunities. He invokes the mural of an H Street scene at Tenth and H Street NE. He wants that to be the feeling people have for the neighborhood.
“When you come to the District, you come to H Street NE,” he said, “that is —if you want to actually meet DC, the people who make cool clothes, good food, sing amazing songs. H Street is that, it should be that to people.”
And Frenkel is a full convert. He’s contemplating a future run for Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), but first wants to spend time growing more familiar with the place and its people. When we meet, sitting across a desk merchandised with jewelry, buttons and hats, he tells me he hasn’t left H Street in two weeks. He doesn’t need to —everything he wants, from grocers to restaurants to night life —is right here.
He welcomes donations: clothes of all kind. He sells many items to his work, and donates where there is need. In demand especially: children’s clothing, outerwear, blankets and sleeping bags for the unhoused as well as reusable bags. He also welcomes unopened first aid supplies, feminine hygiene products and diapers as well as items like racks or monetary donations to help meet his rent. Right now, he’d like to have a rack of free children’s Halloween costumes in the shop.
Frenkel wants to partner with those already on the ground doing the work. If you’d be interested in partnering to get needed items or to help those in need or as part of a holiday resource market, he’d like to hear from you. H Street Thrift and Outreach is a ed charitable organization and all gifts are tax deductible.
“I moved for my entire adult life to find a place worth investing in,” Frenkel said. Now he has found the place his heart belongs.
“I have felt nothing but love for —and from— the community in DC,” he said.
Learn more and schedule a donation pick-up at the H Street Outreach & Thrift website —or visit Frenkel in store Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 5 p.m. For fun and fashion, follow @hstreet.thrift on Instagram.
