Billie Eilish puts on food drive during Twin Cities concerts

MINNEAPOLIS — An international pop star is on tour in the Twin Cities and she’s making her visit all about giving back and helping the environment.

“Billie Eilish came into the shop as a complete surprise,” Justin Schaefer, the owner of VINTAGE, off Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis, said. The business is just over a year old and occupies the historic 1930s White Castle building.

Schaefer and his son got to meet the Grammy Award winner on Saturday ahead of her back-to-back concerts at the Xcel Energy Center.

“[Billie] was very kind, vibing the place out,” Schaefer said. “She picked up a 1960s referee jacket, and a cooking apron from the 1970s with a nude female figure, like body, screen print on top of it.”

Friends Courtnee Schippel and Hope Easter intentionally visited VINTAGE after Eilish shopped there. They went to her concert on Sunday night.

“We were like, you know what we’re going to go [to VINTAGE], and if it’s open it’s meant to be,” Schippel said. “We were like, ‘What if we’d come yesterday? What if we had met Billie on a whim?’” 

The two friends are not surprised Eilish is supporting sustainable businesses while on tour. Eilish encourages fans coming to her shows to bring reusable water bottles to eliminate single-use plastic. Also, for the first time in Minneapolis, her concert is also a food drive. She’s asking fans to bring non-perishable plant-based items to donate to Minnesota food shelf Second Harvest Heartland.

“I feel like no matter how popular Billie gets, she’s always going to be really vocal about things she cares about and stay consistent about the things she cares about,” Schippel said. 

Second Harvest Heartland said the food drive at the concerts has been very popular, which is good timing because the food shelf said there’s a very high need right now.

“I think anyone that uses their platform to promote zero waste is fantastic,” Schaefer said.

For location and store hours for VINTAGE, follow them on Instagram: @jschaejschae.