“They will come to your house and literally take nothing, and that’s if they come at all.” “They’re getting very selective about hard goods in particular - sofas, tables, chairs,” said Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a research and consulting firm. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Īs the secondhand market continues to explode (It is projected to double in the next five years, reaching $77 billion in annual sales by 2025, according to GlobalData), guidelines are getting even stricter as excess supply piles up. Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan begins on June 8, allowing retail and outdoor dining to open. Other retailers said one false move by another consignment store could send ripples throughout the marketplace.Revolve Consignment Boutique owner Lisa Castagno opens up her Newton, MA store on June 8, 2020. “I’m just so disappointed,” she said, “there’s nothing, really, in this neighborhood like it.” Rebecca Weinstock sighed as she recalled scoring a perfect set of caramel-colored Prada pumps on deep discount several years earlier. “It’s yet another clothing store going out of business in Coolidge Corner.” I’m a recycler myself, and an artist, so I have to watch my pennies,” said Maria Jane Loizou, a singer who lives two blocks from the Brookline shop and dropped by occasionally to purchase sequin blouses for her performances. Many customers were just learning about the store closings while dropping in during the Monday lunch hour. “I’d shop and see my clothing I never thought that someone would actually take off and not pay thousands of dollars,” she said. She said that she hadn’t received a payment since December, but that hadn’t given her pause, because the store clerks promised it was merely a change of corporate leadership that was tying up the distribution of checks. Employees were unable to find 28 pieces that she had consigned at the stores, and when they tallied her promised payouts, they determined that she’s owed more than $1,000. But on Monday afternoon, she left the Newton Centre store with only three items. Wechsler said she was “blindsided” by the e-mail and has visited both locations in an attempt to retrieve her unsold clothing. Johanna Wechsler, a psychotherapist in Cambridge, said she’s been selling clothing at 2nd Time Around for more than 15 years and consigns over 30 items a month at the Cambridge and Newton Centre locations, including Diane von Furstenberg dresses, Fendi bags, and other labels such as Chloe, Chanel, and Tory Burch. “Our hands are so tied right now,” she said. And they’ve been dealing with irate customers. She said sales clerks have been calling top consignors to pick up their items. “The downsizing wasn’t scaring me at all I just assumed it was part of the business,” said one longtime employee, who asked not to be identified because she was not authorized to speak for the company. Attempts to contact company headquarters on Monday were unsuccessful. Customers were alerted on Wednesday by e-mail. He has been referring all customers to New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs.Įmployees in Greater Boston said they were stunned to learn last Tuesday that the company was shutting down and they’d lose their jobs. is padlocked after the company was “legally evicted last week due to nonpayment” of rent, according to Eric Nelson, the building’s landlord. 2nd Time Around had three locations on Newbury Street, but closed two of the stores earlier this year.
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