Shopping resale is the new chic

With less than two weeks before its May 21 grand opening, the staff at Blue is busy putting the finishing touches on the upscale boutique, steam ironing shirts and arranging displays.
Situated across from Pittsford Plaza in one of the most prestigious shopping strips in the Rochester area, Blue has all the look and feel of an upscale shop. Except it's the newest ABVI-Goodwill store, giving the image of thrift shopping a facelift.
"With the economy the way it is, people are looking for new ways to shop," said Sondra McFarlane,代考CCNA, vice president of marketing for the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill.
The non-profit Goodwill is joining the growing retail ranks of consignment shops. Seven new consignment stores are opening in the region, said Cathy Yeomans, president of RACS, an association for Rochester-area consignment shop owners and owner of Turns in Webster.
More people are turning to consignment in an uncertain economy to earn some cash for their goods or to update their wardrobes, she said.
Acpower cording to the National Association of Resale Professionals, the industry has grown in the net number of stores at a rate of approximately 7 percent a year for the past two years.
Resale is a multibillion-dollar industry. Goodwill Industries alone generated $2.8 billion in retail sales from its 2,324 non-profit thrift stores across America in 2009, acpower cording to the association.
In the Rochester region, ABVI-Goodwill is a $32 million organization. It has businesses that generate revenue, which allows it to provide services so people with vision loss may lead independent lives. Just last week, ABVI publicly displayed an $8.8 million expansion plan for its South Clinton Avenue location so it can provide additional occupational and life skills training for its clients.
The organization employs more than 500 people, 25 percent of whom are blind or visually impaired.
While ABVI-Goodwill is a nonprofit, it thinks like a business, making sure each Goodwill store is profitable, McFarlane said. The Blue boutique concept was carefully thought out and executed with the help of Michelle Cavalli, director of merchandising at ABVI-Goodwill, who has 30 years of retail experience.
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Painted in shades of light blue and taupe, the 4,000-square-foot stand-alone building is filled with color-coordinated racks of very gently used designer garments mixed in with new items such as Nicole Miller baby clothes or fashion handbags(we have more cheap handbags,such as cheap coach handbags,cheap gucci handbags,cheap jordan shoes,cheap purses.). Cavalli buys from the same closeout sales as retailers such as TJ Maxx.
Shoppers will find designer brands such as Talbot's, Chico's and Ann Taylor. Spotted at the store while staffers were still stocking it was a sequin Chico's jacket for $39.99, a pink Louis Vuitton scarf for $49.99 and a Dolce & Gabbana purse for $59.99 that once retailed for more than $1,000.
The store is an outlet for high-end merchandise that didn't move as well at the regular thrift shops, McFarlane said, noting that $9.99 may be a bargain for an Ann Taylor blouse but when compared with a $2.99 blouse, it may not be as appealing.
Goodwill regularly receives high-end donations such as Fendi purses(if you want to buy cheap handbags,please click on the links:cheap nike air max,cheap nike max tn,cheap nike shoes,cheap nike shox,cheap purses.). Now the merchandise will be better showcased in a boutique setting, she said.
About a mile down on Monroe Avenue in Brighton, Panache Vintage & Finer Consignments opened last year, selling high-end merchandise such as Gucci and Chanel wholesale shopping bags and designers such as St. John.
Owner Joan Lincoln welcomes the new Blue boutique to the area, not viewing it as competition. That's because she understands the psyche of consignment shoppers: They like to visit more than one shop for the thrill of the hunt. RACS, in fact, has arranged bus tours so women could visit myriad shops.
Henrietta resident Florence Clemmons checks out thrift or consignment stores about twice a week, preferring the AMVETS thrift store in Henrietta and Panache in Brighton.
"Going in these stores is like going on a treasure hunt," Clemmons said, noting that she loves it when she can find a designer piece at a fraction of the price.
Shopping resale is currently in vogue because people are much more environmentally conscious and it is now the social norm to shop thrift stores, said Eugene Fram, professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology.
"It's acceptable for educated women to shop at these stores and seek bargains," he said.
In these economic times, people are no longer bragging about how much they paid for an item, but how little they paid.
"People buy into it because it's the hunt," Fram said.
MCHAO@DemocratandChronicle。com
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