The concept of shopping for clothing continues to evolve rapidly and resale is at the center of the evolution. Nowhere is this more evident than within thredUP’s recently-released 6th Annual (2018) Resale Report. “There is a powerful transformation of the modern closet happening and resale is a key driver,” proclaims Co-Founder and CEO James Reinhart.
While transformations are fun to watch, it is more exciting to participate in and profit from them. Owning a resale clothing franchise is a great way to participate in (and profit from) the compelling transformation in retail.
Here are five great reasons to own a resale clothing franchise — supported by findings within the thredUP report:
1) PARTICIPATE IN AN EMERGING LIFESTYLE
Consumers love deep discounts more than ever, and the hunt for a bargain and a great variety of products to choose from. Of all retail categories, this is most relevant in apparel — particularly upscale resale. thredUP surveyed 2,000 women in early 2018 and found that 71 percent plan to spend more on resale shopping over the next five years. Ironically (or not) this is equivalent to the number who plan to spend less time in traditional department stores. Resale exposes consumers to brands they might never have come across before or might never have been able to afford. It also provides an unparalleled thrill of the hunt and shoppers love it. The old notions of dark, musty and dusty secondhand stores are in the past. Consumers of all generations are beginning to enthusiastically embrace resale and starting to live it consciously making purchase and sale decisions within this new paradigm. NTY Franchise Company is uniquely positioned to help entrepreneurs participate in this emerging lifestyle.
2) PROFIT FROM TREMENDOUS INDUSTRY GROWTH
Resale is growing exponentially faster than any other retail category and is expected to reach $41B by 2022 from $20B currently — with apparel by far the largest component. Resale is going mainstream and there is not much that will stop it. According to thredUP, 44 million women shopped secondhand in 2017 versus 35 million in 2016 — a stunning 26 percent increase. One in three women shopped secondhand in 2017 alone; while the percentage of used items in thrifters’ closets is projected to grow to 40 percent by 2022 from 24 percent 2017 (which more than doubled from 11 percent in 2012). Most notably, resale shoppers plan to buy two times the amount of used clothing over the next five years than they currently do. There are not many industries with this momentum and growth trajectory. Owning a high-return resale clothing franchise such as Clothes Mentor is a great way to profit from it.
3) RIDE THE GREEN REVOLUTION
“Fashion is the second-most polluting industry in the world” Emily Farra, Editor of VOGUE, preached in a widely publicized article in October 2017. This reality has been compounded by fast-fashion where styles are rushed to market with little regard for the environment and how short the item’s lifespan will be. thredUP notes that if every garment was given a second life — retail industry waste, emissions and water usage would be reduced by 73 percent. Top designers are becoming increasingly aware of implications of the rampant Throw-Away Culture. They are evolving more toward Circular and Sustainable fashion, where clothing is built to last much longer so it’s able to easily have a lifespan beyond one individual. Similarly, individuals are now embracing this concept and are increasingly motivated to recycle their clothes and purchase secondhand clothing themselves. Owning a resale clothing franchise — like highly successful NTY Franchise Company brands such as Clothes Mentor, Children’s Orchard and NTY Clothing Exchange — is a great way to ride the green revolution that is gaining momentum and here to stay.
4) CAPTURE THE MILLENNIAL MOVEMENT
Everyone loves to comment on the millennial generation and their often complex ideologies. “They are wasteful… but hate to waste,” jests thredUP in discussing millennials’ complicated shopping habits. The report details how 18- to 24-year-olds are the most impulsive shoppers (and the most likely to discard an item after 1 – 5 wearings). At the same time, the large majority of millennials prefer to buy environmentally-conscious brands; 40 percent shopped resale during 2017, and 35 percent are likely to switch to thrift to go green (versus the average consumer at 27 percent). Millennials are often difficult to reach, but upscale resale is reaching them, and their embracement of this lifestyle will be passed down to their children as they are brought up within it. Owning a resale clothing franchise like NTY Clothing Exchange — with a primary target demographic of teenagers and young adults — is a great way to capture the millennial movement.
5) LEVERAGE PROVEN BUSINESS MODELS
Opening a retail business has traditionally been a daunting task — particularly for early entrants in resale. Luckily those days are over, and now entrepreneurs can leverage time-tested, high-return, proven business models developed by a seasoned industry veteran like NTY Franchise Company.
NTY Franchise Company specializes in working with entrepreneurs at every stage of establishing one of several national resale clothing franchise brands. These stages include: Research & Discovery; Business Planning; Store Location & Leasing; Financing; Design & Build-out; Point of Service Software & Systems; Coaching & Managing; and Marketing.
At the center of NTY Franchise Company’s successful business models are its relentless focus on 1) Bright, clean and fresh-aired stores; 2) Smart store layouts; 3) State-of-the-art inventory managing, pricing and point of sale cloud-based software systems; and 4) a firm grasp on all the “big data” needed to make wise purchase and sell decisions throughout the day — every day. While all of this sounds fairly obvious, it takes decades of experience to actually put the strategies, systems and discipline in place to truly be effective (and deploy it) at scale. NTY Franchise Company has this experience and discipline — and the high returns from their average franchise units prove it.
ABOUT NTY FRANCHISE COMPANY
Founded in 2006 and located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, NTY Franchise Company is a pioneering and highly-experienced force in the rapidly growing category of upscale resale. It is the umbrella organization for three proven national resale clothing franchise brands: Children’s Orchard (kids clothing franchise); Clothes Mentor (women’s designer clothing franchise); and NTY Clothing Exchange (teens and young adults clothing franchise). NTY also has two other successful national franchise concepts: New Uses (household furniture, décor, appliances franchise) and Device Pitstop (electronics repair and resale franchise.
To learn more about NTY Franchise Company — and the lucrative opportunities in upscale resale franchising — explore our main page or feel free to just give us a call (952)-923-1223.