STORES Convention Daily - 2018 Big Show Day 3 - 18

2018 TUESDAY

How thredUP LUXE and Other Retailers
Capitalize on Pre-Owned Luxury

ranted, there's bound to be a surprise or two in any bag of items
sent to online consignment retailer
thredUP.
But when thredUP began receiving
goods for its new LUXE designer segment
late last summer, even founder and CEO
James Reinhart was caught unaware.
"The response has been amazing,
frankly," he says. "We've really seen a lot of
demand, more than expected, and are now
rapidly scaling up our team and our operations to handle that volume ... . It's clear
that people know our brand, they've worked
with us before in a different capacity, so I'm
excited. It's fun. I spent so many years telling people, 'We'll get there. We'll get there.
We'll get there.' And now it's here."
"Here" is still relatively novel ground.
Online resale of luxury items is not new
- Vestiaire Collective launched in 2009,
The RealReal in 2011. What's fresh is the
broader reach into the mainstream. These
companies and others like them are receiving millions in funding from venture capitalists, and some are moving from ecommerce pure play to opening physical stores.
And consider that when those bags
come in for LUXE, only half the items

inside are typically designer. It's not that
there's confusion about what luxury is,
Reinhart says, but rather that women's
closets today more likely contain a mix of
"high" and "low."
"We've had a lot of customers over the
years say, 'You guys don't really focus on
luxury ... but I have a few luxury things, and
I would love to send to you,'" he says. The
bread and butter of the business has been the
J.Crew/Banana Republic shopper, but these
shoppers were still buying luxury items -
and sending them somewhere else to resell.
"At some point," he says, "the drum
beat gets loud enough. We realized that
now would be a great time."

Luxury vs. vintage

Pam Danziger is quick to point out that,
regardless of the current growth, there's still
a very real difference between used luxury
items and vintage pieces. What we're seeing now is definitely in the used category,
says the speaker, author and luxury market
researcher - even if it's lovingly called
"pre-owned."
It's driven by the desire for a "good
deal," and the way Danziger sees it, the
availability of such goods speaks to some

Online consignment, including luxury, has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to
retailers like thredUP.

challenges in the industry as a whole.
"The fashion industry wants you to
buy a whole new wardrobe every season,
like you need that," she says. "But one of
the things that has made traditional luxury,
luxury, particularly in fashion apparel, is
that it's classic, and never really goes out
of style. That's different from what luxury

has become today, which is that you've got
to change it up every season so you don't
look like last season.
"I don't think the luxury industry
has really come to terms with this ... .
Today, luxury brands are much heavier
See "Luxury" on page 26

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2018
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https://www.thredup.com/ http://www.vestiairecollective.com/ https://www.therealreal.com/ http://www.magstarinc.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of STORES Convention Daily - 2018 Big Show Day 3