I'm sure this type of store exists in many large cities in many states, but Saint Louis seems to have cornered the market on "Upscale Resale". There are many people in Saint Louis who have the money and the want to buy the latest trends every season, and have no need for last season's purse or pair of shoes. Lucky enough for these people, there are people like us who are willing to purchase their "slightly worn" items at a very deep discount and help keep these said upscale resale stores in business.
Prime Example: Tonight I ventured over to a store after work called the "Women's Closet Exchange". This is far different than your grandma's thrift store. The owner of this store not only accepts items (either donated or on consignment) from locals, but she also has distributors that send her items from boutiques when they are no longer in season from all the major shopping cities; such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. This woman has built up quite a system for herself and her shop. Should you want to check out the website, click here. While all roads are paved with good intentions, today's road turned out beneficial for me. I had originally wanted to just check out the store and report back to the girls at work, and then we could all go one day at lunch. Instead, I found myself a lovely pair of never-before-worn shoes, and a classic sheath black and white polka dot dress.
Kay Unger dress. Average price at Nordstrom's: $250. Barely worn and in great shape bought today: $49.
BCBG pumps - zappos price: $150. These are never-been-worn shoes (clean on bottom): $29.
Funny how I magically found shoes that matched a dress. I really didn't do that on purpose. I picked up the shoes (of course I went to the shoe area first), tried them on, and put them on the counter to hold while I looked at the rest of the stuff.
There are three other boutiques on our list to check out:
1. ScholarShop
2. Upscale Resale Boutique
3. Back on the Rack
I'll definitely let you know what kind of treasures we find there as well!
P.S. Let the record show that I found a pair of CHANEL pumps, navy and white, size 10 - a perfect fit, and left them in the store. While the $199 price tag was an incredible deal in relation to the original purchase price, I just couldn't pull the trigger. But here's a picture of them, just for fun.
1. ScholarShop
2. Upscale Resale Boutique
3. Back on the Rack
I'll definitely let you know what kind of treasures we find there as well!
P.S. Let the record show that I found a pair of CHANEL pumps, navy and white, size 10 - a perfect fit, and left them in the store. While the $199 price tag was an incredible deal in relation to the original purchase price, I just couldn't pull the trigger. But here's a picture of them, just for fun.
