Short on cash for shopping? Still want designer fashions? Think resale stores.
Resale is a fun, easy and inexpensive way to shop in Dallas. Just minutes from the Southern Methodist University campus, several resale stores offer designer fashions at reduced prices.
Resale stores, also known as consignment stores, sell second-hand, or previously worn clothing and accessories. At high-end resale stores, the brands for sale come straight from Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Labels like Prada, Gucci, Juicy and designer denim fill the resale store racks. The items are in season, in style and offered at a bargain price. The stores evaluate each piece on condition, style and brand to ensure the best selling price.
Before jumping into the buying of previously worn clothing or the selling of personal items, resale shoppers must understand the lingo. In the Dallas area, several stores offer different variations on resale or consignment. Resale stores offer an outright buy or a consignment buy. Outright buy occurs when the store purchases the clothing from the seller for a cash price, and the clothing becomes property of the store. Consignment occurs when the clothing on the sales floor is still the property of the original owner, until a second hand purchase transaction. The store receives a percentage of the selling price, usually 50 percent, and the cosigner receives the other half. Either way is a great way to receive money or buy discounted items.
Next to SMU, Robin Hood’s Designer Resale, at 6609 Hillcrest Ave., offers a selection of jeans, tops, shoes and purses. Owner Cindy Gutierrez personally selects brands through outright buy or consignment, like 7 For All Mankind, Theory, Juicy and Laundry, to fill her store.
Gutierrez strategically places her best selling item, designer denim, directly at the front of the store. Sales clerk, Suzy Maracine, says, “Everyone comes in for jeans. They are looking for 7 For All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity, which we always have at least a couple pair of in the store.” The idea is that one never knows what will be in store, “several students drop by daily just to check out the selection of brands and sizes we have each day, especially on jeans.”
“Price is our best point. Ladies are amazed by our deals available on designer clothing,” gushes Maracine. Besides the designer discount, Robin Hood offers a $5 room, where one can find Gap and Express items.
All clothing bought at or sold to Robin Hood is in “very good condition, the items look like they’ve never been worn,” explains Maracine. “For example, we offer items with tags still attached and customers can not tell the difference between brand new items and used ones.”
A 7 For All Mankind jean in the Off Broadway style with the $165 Neiman Marcus tag attached sells for $70 at Robin Hood.
Less than three miles from campus, Clothes Circuit at 6105 Sherry Lane in Preston Center, offers a large selection of upscale designer wear. Established in 1983, this consignment only store offers a finely tuned taste in women’s apparel. In 2004, D Magazine named it, a “Best Store of Dallas.”
“Less worn, newer styles” in brands such as Lilly Pulitzer, Lacoste, Laundry, BCBG, BeBe and Juicy are sold, says Melanie Simpson, Clothes Circuit’s website manager. Simpson also names designer denims 7 For All Mankind, Blue Cult, Joe Jeans and Diesel.
Clothes Circuit sets prices around one-third of the original ticket. Simpson explains, “Two ladies work strictly in the rear consignment drop off evaluating items to price.” Shelves of notebooks containing catalogs, previous sales and retail store pricing sheets, contain information for pricing. “We even call Neiman Marcus and ask their selling price and advice,” if the information is not in store. Simpson notes that, “the more high end the brand is, the more of a discount there will be from the original price”
Red price tags identify high-end designer items and a price discount system. Each price reduces by 25 percent after 45 days on the sales floor, and another 20 percent after 30 more days on the sales floor.
Items available on the sales floor range from Louis Vuitton to Gap. A Louis Vuitton messenger bag originally priced at $1,320 currently sells for $550. The shoe collection always contains several pairs of Gucci and Prada heels at a large discount. Moreover, a basic Gap denim jacket is on the rack for around $15.
North of campus, in Forest Square a store carries the finest collection of second-hand designer wear in North Dallas. Clotheshorse Anonymous, located at 1413 Preston, offers a wide selection of pants, tops and shoes, but the main attraction is the decorated Red Room.
In the Red Room, all of a woman’s cocktail dress fantasies come true, and at a discount. Dresses for every occasion fill the racks at prices one would never believe. For example, a Kay Unger evening gown priced at only $34.25 awaits purchase. Even better, a Calvin Klein gown with the original price tag of $2,380 still attached, sells for $525. Also in the accessories room, a special designer handbag rack displays a Louis Vuitton garment cover originally priced at $965, sells at only $511. All the styles come, “from the runways of New York, Paris, Milan and London to our racks.”
Throughout the store, Clotheshorse Anonymous echoes Clothes Circuit with designer names like Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Escada, Hermes, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren and Laundry. With these labels, no wonder Clotheshorse Anonymous has a customer list of over 29,000. This store is worth the drive from the SMU campus.
In a different style of resale, Plato’s Closet, a nationally franchised store sells second hand teen style clothing for women and men. Located near campus at 6325 E. Northwest Hwy, Plato’s Closet is the most inexpensive resale store in the Dallas area.
Specializing in selling to teens, Plato’s Closet offers brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, American Eagle and Express. Selling only in-season styles, it is the place to find great season basics like jean skirts, leisure khakis and screen-printed tees. For example, an Abercrombie and Fitch denim mini skirt, which appears brand new, sells for $12. For men, Plato’s Closet stocks several khaki cargo shorts from American Eagle for $12 too. In the winter, the store carries an amazing collection of Gap and J Crew sweaters ranging from $12 to $15. Even better, Plato’s prices high-end designer denim like 7 For All Mankind at $25. Hardly any of the prices for women and men’s clothing is over $25.
Besides the great prices, the best part of Plato’s Closet is the resale function. Selling your clothes to Plato’s Closet is a quick and easy way to make money. With no appointment necessary, a shopper can bring in clean and folded garments in a durable plastic container for buying evaluation. For example, that American Eagle screen-printed shirt you “just had to have” but never wore can be bought by Plato’s Closet. In the store, a sign points to the buy counter where a sales person will evaluate the pieces you bring in on style and condition. At the completion of the evaluation, he or she will explain what pieces the store is able to purchase and for what price. Once the shopper agrees upon price total, Plato’s Closet pays cash for totals under $30 and check for totals over $30. The process only takes around 10 minutes, and during the evaluation, one can shop the current sales floor.
Resale stores near campus offer an abundance of designer clothing at discount prices, just waiting to be purchased.
