The proprietors of Raiders’ Closet are flinging the doors open wide for a grand Oct. 1 reopening in its new MTSU location.

The repository of gently used business clothing for students to wear for job interviews and other professional activities will welcome all visitors from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Room 327 of the Keathley University Center, next door to the Career Development Center.

Racks of suits and dress shirts await students who need professional attire at Raiders’ Closet’s new location in Room 327 of the Keathley University Center. (Photos submitted )

“Bill Fletcher and his crew in the CDC are always willing to help students,” Dr. Virginia Hemby-Grubb, a professor in the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship, said of the Career Center’s director.

“And now that Raiders’ Closet is right next door, we can ensure that every student puts his or her best foot forward in those first few seconds of a face-to-face interview for that first job.”

All items in the Raiders’ Closet are free to students. They can keep the clothing and accessories.

The operation had been located in the Business and Aerospace Building since it opened in January 2013, but it was open only from 2 to 4 p.m. on Fridays.

From now on, Raiders’ Closet will be open Monday through Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. A graduate student will be on hand to help students Monday through Thursday, and Hemby-Grubb will staff the Raiders’ Closet on Fridays.

Hemby-Grubb and her husband, Dr. Skip Grubb, have put in hours of labor preparing the closet for the grand opening. They shopped for racks and accessories to display and store the items, and her husband spent the better part of a week, as well as Saturdays, putting racks on the walls.

“Now that we have completed our tasks, I am working to get all of the clothing items arranged by size for both men and women and to ensure that our display in the front area is visually attractive,” Hemby-Grubb said.

Dr. Virginia Hemby-Grubb displays some of the items available for students preparing for job interviews and new jobs at the newly relocated Raiders’ Closet.

The closet currently has about 120 women’s suits and 70 men’s dress shirts, but shoes and accessories are in short supply. Men’s black dress shoes and women’s dress pumps with closed toes and heels no higher than one to one-and-one-half inches are needed.

Monetary donations also are welcome through an MTSU Foundation account. Gift-in-kind donations may be made through the university’s Development and Foundation Office. Instructions are available here.

“We have had several instances where students needed an interview suit and our inventory did not have the needed size,” said Hemby-Grubb.

“Access to monetary funds through the Raiders’ Closet (MTSU) Foundation account allows us to immediately purchase a suit for a student in the specific size he/she needs from a consignment shop in the local area or the Goodwill stores.”

Monetary and clothing donations may be made to Jaye Kiblinger in the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship office, located in Room N429 of the Business and Aerospace Building, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

To arrange for clothes to be picked up at the north side of the building, call Kiblinger in advance at 615-898-2902.

For more information, contact Hemby-Grubb at 615-898-1369 or Virginia.Hemby-Grubb@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)