Nordstrom Bets on Used Clothes, But the Market Is a Bit Threadbare
Manufacturers need to make more shirts and skirts that are built to last, if the supply is going to meet demand.
Not your grandmother’s thrift shop.
Source: Nordstrom Inc.Nordstrom Inc.’s seven-story New York flagship at Broadway and 57th Street is home to a velvet-lined Nike boutique, a facial massage studio, a martini bar in the heart of the shoe floor and lots of expensive new merchandise. That’s how it’s always been at Nordstrom. But last month brought something new with the opening of See You Tomorrow, a luxury apparel resale boutique inside the flagship. Shoppers will find returned and damaged goods sourced from other Nordstrom stores and — because it’s a resale shop — they’re welcome to sell their own high-end apparel for store credit.
Nordstrom isn’t the first department store to try resale. In 2019, Macy’s Inc. and J.C.Penney Co. Inc. preceded Nordstrom into the business, lured by younger shoppers concerned with the environmental footprint of their consumption. But long term, resale’s biggest impact on retailing won’t be the growing sections of department stores devoted to used clothes. The most profound shift will be if manufacturers are compelled to make better quality, more durable clothes that consumers perceive as having value in the secondhand economy.