Photo: Nordstrom
Secondhand clothing has found a home at Nordstrom. The department store retailer has launched a new resale concept — See You Tomorrow — online and at the Nordstrom flagship in New York City.
The resale shop, which is curated by Olivia Kim, vice president of creative projects at Nordstrom, features an assortment of apparel and accessories from brands that align with the retailer’s customer base.
“We want to provide a unique and elevated resale shopping experience that encourages a sense of discovery and provides access to the brands our customers know and love, while giving them a convenient opportunity to participate in the circular fashion economy,” said Ms. Kim in a statement. “We want our customers to feel good not only about what they’re buying, but how they’re buying it.”
The See You Tomorrow shop will be stocked with merchandise from the Nordstrom Quality Center, which receives and processes all returned and damaged merchandise sold in the retailer’s full-price department stores. Nordstrom will clean, repair and refurbish all items before displaying them to Nordstrom’s customers.
Customers can also participate by bringing their secondhand items to the Nordstrom flagship in New York City. In exchange for items accepted, Nordstrom will give customers gift cards good in any Nordstrom-owned stores or on websites. Nordstrom is planning to launch a program in the future whereby customers can mail secondhand merchandise.
“In addition to providing customers more ways to engage with us, See You Tomorrow is another step we’re taking to actively support our commitment to sustainability,” said Pete Nordstrom, co-president at Nordstrom. “We’re excited to show our customers another way Nordstrom is striving to leave the world better than we found it and circular fashion is another piece to this puzzle.”
Nordstrom is moving into the resale space at a time when secondhand clothing is becoming more popular with consumers looking to save money and do something positive for the environment.
Accenture’s “13th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey” found that 56 percent of those surveyed would welcome receiving secondhand items as gifts. Separate research by Mercati found that 61 percent were comfortable receiving a secondhand item as a gift. Younger consumers were more comfortable receiving secondhand gifts than those 55 and older.
Nordstrom joins a growing list of apparel retailers including J.C. Penney, and Macy’s getting into secondhand sales. Those department stores are running pilot programs with ThredUP. The resale site’s annual report released last March shows that the clothing resale market has grown 21 times faster than new clothing sales over the past three years. Annual revenues are projected to reach $51 billion by 2023, up from $24 billion at present, as more sustainability-minded Millennials and Gen Zers make secondhand clothing a larger part of their wardrobes.