Neiman Marcus had bought a stake in online secondhand store Fashionphile earlier this week. It became one of the first major retailer to get into fashion’s fast-growing resale market. Some of the retailers like The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, 1stDibs still hold their businesses, even though they are being targeted with legal actions by luxury brands like Chanel. The concern is that it will slow down branding of a luxury label.
And it sure will, as Millennials and Gen Z generations are driving the resale trend. Sustainability and clean fashion first. This new generation is all about saving the planet and what once was a grey market is now Hot.
Fashionphile purchases items from the seller. Select Neiman stores will have Fashionphile “salons,” where customers can go to sell their luxury handbags and jewelry and receive immediate payment. The decision for Neiman Marcus to invest in resale, according to Raemdonck, came out of a customer survey the retailer conducted last year, which found that half of its shoppers were shopping on resale sites.
The shop-in-shop Fashionphile salons will be rolled out to five to seven Neiman Marcus locations in the Fall.
by Sarah Brooks
Warning. This is a Not Politically Correct Post.