Used clothing stores, pawnshops find popularity in recession
By: Jennifer Silverman
Edited by Barry Gabay
The shirt off your back could make you some money - and save someone else a few bucks during this recession.
Two relatively new Columbia stores that buy and sell used clothing say business is good, almost too good when it comes to those who want to sell clothes. And if it isn't clothes but other items but other items you're looking for, some local pawnshops also say they're seeing more items come in over the counter.
Stores like nationally franchised Plato's Closet in the Harbison area and locally owned Sid and Nancy in Five Points have encouraged a new set of customers to begin recycling clothing.
Unlike traditional consignment stores, which pay you only when the item is sold, these stores pay upfront for your used clothing - as long as it meets their standards - and then resell it.
At Plato's Closet, for instance, a typical T-shirt from American Eagle might might fetch you from $2.10 to $2.80 and be resold for $6 to $8. How much an item is bought and resold for depends on its condition.
Karen Brebner, an administrative specialist at Midlands Tech, said she used to donate her clothes to Goodwill. bBut because of the recession, she has begun taking them to Plato's Closet three to four times a year. Brebner said she finds the store convenient and likes the designer clothing for a fraction of the cost.
Plato's Closet, founded in Columbus, Ohio, and franchised in 1999, is based on the common principles of reduce, reuse, recyclerecycles clothes marketed toward "teens and twenty-somethings," according to the store's Web site. Or aAs Merri Mitchell, manager of the 4-year-old 4-year-old Bower Parkway store, says, "If you don't wear it, someone else will."
In addition to gently used clothing, shoes and accessories, Plato's Closet buys books and DVDs. Every store has a computer program that determines the price at which items are bought and resold. Everything is sold at a 70 percent markdown from the original price and is bought at 30 to 40 percent below the markdown price.
In addition to clothing, Sid and Nancy buys some furniture.In addition to clothing, Sid and Nancy buys some furniture.
So many people have been seeking to sell clothes that that both stores have had to cut back on when they take items in.
Sid and Nancy's manager, Courtney Phillips, said the store now buys things only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Mitchell said Plato's Closet no longer buys items on Tuesday and Thursday.
People selling items recently have say said they need gas money, need prescriptions or have a bill to pay but don't have the money, Mitchell said.
"It's kind of sad. I've actually had some people cry right in front of me," ," she said. she said.
Business has also changed at People's Pawn Shop, which has been ona downtown Assembly Street downtown staple for 23 years, owner John Fins said.
"We are seeing a lot different people coming now needing to borrow money, sell scrap jewelry to make house payments, car payments things that five or six years ago we would not have seen as much," Fins said.
In other words, more people seem to be cleaning out their closets to find items to pawn, he said.
Pawnshops, Unlike Sid and Nancy and Plato's Closet, pawnshops are loan offices first and stores second. Merchandise is held as collateral for 90 days. If the person does not pay off the loan, the item can be moved to the sales floor.
This is one of the reasons the pawnshop industry has increased nationally as well, said Dave Adelman president of the National Pawnbroker's Association.
"There are no credit checks; it doesn't affect credit scores. No bill collectors," he said. "You just keep the collateral; it's something unique in this day and age."
Loans to white-collar and blue-collar customers have increased, and shops are seeing a lot more first-time customers needing short-term loans, Adelman said.
"A segment of the population is always in need of emergency funds," he said.
