We all think of cleaning out our closets in the spring to make room for spring and summer pieces, but it’s also a time to take out clothing you don’t wear and purchase some newer items for spring. One of our franchisees, Andrea Zabinski, is interviewed in this article about her store in Wexford, Pennsylvania. Remember, with all of our Clothes Mentor stores you get high quality, “gently-used” designer pieces to spice up your wardrobe for the spring season. Source: post-gazette.com Spring cleaning is a seasonal rite that often includes clearing out closets to get rid of clothes that are never, or seldom, worn. About 72 percent of households do the so-called “spring cleaning” every year, according to a 2013 American Cleaning Institute survey, which adds that 71 percent of those pay special attention to culling their closets. Several sources suggest that the origins of spring cleaning go back to the ancient Persians whose new year fell on the first day of spring, a time when they “shook the house” to clean it. Others trace it back to the ancient Jewish practice of cleansing the home in anticipation of Passover. Today, some are making this spring cleaning pay. In what they’re calling a “Resale Revolution,” the public relations gurus at Clothes Mentor, a women’s resale clothing store, are urging spring cleaners to “turn closet clutter into cash.” Clothes Mentor, which specializes in upscale fashions for women, has franchised resale stores all over the country, including Chartiers Valley Shopping Center (Route 50) in Collier and Perry Highway (Route 19) in Pine. Their press material tells women to “trade in unwanted designer clothes and accessories for quick cash or a different wardrobe.” Just Between Friends is using a similar spring cleaning pitch. It’s a national company with two local franchises that don’t have bricks-and-mortar stores but offer four big sales events each year at large venues. Just Between Friends specializes in items for infants and children, selling deeply discounted clothes, toys and kiddie gear, including high chairs and strollers. It accepts clothes and other items on consignment. People receive cash when their items are resold. At resale stores, including Clothes Mentor, sellers are paid on the spot when the store accepts the castoffs. Resale is a $12 billion a year industry, reports the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. And, the number of resale stores has increased approximately 7 percent each of the past two years. There are more than 25,000 resale, consignment and not-for-profit resale shops in the United States, says the NARTS website. Goodwill Industries, with more than 2,900 resale stores, generated $3.79 billion in 2013. Deborah Monaco of South Fayette has been buying and selling at the Collier Clothes Mentor store since it opened in October 2012. “I come in probably once or twice a month and I usually get about $40 each trip,” said Ms. Monaco, a retired Mt. Lebanon elementary school teacher. Then she often spends the money while she is at Clothes Mentor. She said that almost everything she wore or carried that day, including her duck-decorated Dooney and Bourke purse, was purchased there. Lauren Darbouze of Carnegie was shopping after work in the black-and-white Cachet dress she had worn to work at her Downtown office. An attorney with her own family law practice, she said, “I look for all of my professional wear here. I am amazed by what I find. Mostly I buy here, but when my closet gets too full, I sell.” On that day, the front of Clothes Mentor displayed top designer labels, including Michael Kors, Ann Taylor Loft, White House, Black Market, Chicos and Banana Republic. An Ann Taylor suit jacket had a $20 price tag. A pink-flowered Michael Kors dress — never worn and sporting a Macy’s tag — was selling for $25. A long rack held 57 Vera Bradley purses and bags. All sizes and all colors were selling for between $9 and $20. More than half of the purses and bags in the store are Coach, said store owner Jamie Martin of South Park, including a medium-sized black leather bag for $54. Everything’s selling for 50 to 70 percent off full-priced retail, Mr. Martin said. “We’re fairly strict. We will not buy anything that is more than 2 years old. We want you to know you are buying current styles.” Clothes and accessories are rejected if there are any stains, rips or other damage. The store includes sections for maternity and athletic clothes. How much money can women make selling the clothes clogging their closets? “The first woman in the door yesterday, I paid her $500,” Mr. Martin said. One of his regulars said she makes “several thousand dollars” a year selling to Clothes Mentor and other shops. Mr. Martin has worked in retail since he graduated from Duquesne University. In the same shopping center, he owns a Plato’s Closet resale store, which targets teens and 20-something “guys and gals,” according to the website. It’s not as upscale as Clothes Mentor, Mr. Martin said. As to why he doesn’t have a resale shop for men, he quipped, “Guys wear things until they fall apart” and many men don’t like to shop. “I got married 25 years ago, and I haven’t shopped since,’’ he said. Andrea Zabinski opened a Clothes Mentor on March 26 at Pine Center, 11279 Perry Highway, and “the community really embraced us,” she said. “We have many affluent neighborhoods around here, and residents are buyers as well as sellers,” Ms. Zabinski said. “Some women wear things for six weeks and then bring them here for resale.” Designer items brought in for resale include Jimmy Choo shoes. “Some of these women are making $300 to $400 per trip,” Ms. Zabinski said. “I paid one woman more than $3,000. I think the average is about $50 per trip. Then they often buy something.” With two babies, Karlie Young and her sister, Jamie Allen, cheerfully made the 90-minute drive from Youngstown for the Just Between Friends of Pittsburgh East sales event April 24 in the Monroeville Convention Center. Discounted dresses for their daughters, Avery, 7 months, and Bianca, 1, hung from their stroller handles. The two Ohio women eyed long tables of toys and games and baby and toddler gear, including a $20 Graco stroller and a two-seater Maclaren stroller for $40. In the opening minutes of their first JBT shopping spree, they declared it well worth the drive. Kelly Robie of Pine has owned and operated the JBF East franchise for one year and the North franchise for three years. Each franchise has a spring sale and a fall sale. JBF sales offer a variety of previously owned children’s items at discounted prices. Mrs. Robie has a good idea about what kids like and what moms and dads need because she has four children: Ella, 6½; Luke, 4½; Evan, 23 months; and Adam, 10 weeks old. Sales items “were flying off the floor” April 24-26 in Monroeville, she said, with 240 consignors selling items and 2,200 people shopping and buying. Her businesses continue to grow, she noted, up from 200 consignors and 2,000 buyers at the fall sale in Monroeville. The fall sale at Neville Island had 650 consignors and 4,000 shoppers. Eight long tables in Monroeville held a wide array of toys such as hula hoops, inline skates, scooters, puzzles, plastic doll houses, pull toys and costumes. There were 11 rocking horses, ranging in price from $15 for a plastic horse to $50 for a big, lifelike plush pony. “My own children love coming here to play with the toys,” Mrs. Robie said. Everything is inspected, and items that are stained or damaged are rejected. Mrs. Robie’s franchise is piloting the new JBF On Demand program that enables buying and selling year-round. People can set up an at-home appointment with Mrs. Robie to evaluate items. She can offer cash on the spot. Items bought On Demand are stored in the franchise’s warehouse until the sales. Go to pittsburghnorth.jbfsale.com or pittsburgheast.jbfsale.com for further information. Send email to [email protected] to set up an On Demand appointment. The JBF of Pittsburgh North sale is from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the RMU Island Sports Center, 7600 Grand Ave., Neville Island. Admission is $3 today. Admission is free Saturday and Sunday. The next JBF sales are Aug. 21-23 in Monroeville and Sept. 18-20 at Neville Island. Enter your ZIP code on the www.narts.org website to get a list of resale and thrift stores near you.
