Stuttgart The second-hand sales area of the Breuninger flagship store in Stuttgart can be seen from afar. Not because the clothes offered there stand out because of their used appearance, but because of the colorful, floral wallpaper. You only notice that the clothes have already been worn if you look closely.
The pop-up store is more like an upscale boutique than what you would think of as a second-hand shop. Blouses, skirts and evening wear are arranged according to color on clothes rails. Bags, shoes and scarves are displayed on the shelves like in a museum.
The trade in used clothes is trendy. The big online fashion chains have long since discovered the business for themselves: Zalando sells used items under the title “Pre-Owned”, the Otto subsidiary About You offers worn textiles as “Second Love”. The fast fashion giant H&M has secured the majority in the Swedish second-hand online platform Sellpy.
“The second-hand clothing trend is attracting ever larger circles and has the potential to unite a market share of 20 percent in the next ten years,” according to a study by the management consultancy KPMG and the Cologne retail research institute EHI. As a result, a good third of consumers in Germany already buy used clothing. Another 28 percent could imagine it in the future.
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Department store chains such as Breuninger, Galeria or C&A now also want to benefit from this. Because young consumers in particular find this attractive. And it is precisely this clientele that is missing in the department stores.
Breuninger probably wants a permanent second-hand offer
To this end, Breuninger cooperates with the second-hand specialist Vite en Vogue, which specializes in luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada and Gucci. Vite-en-Vogue sales areas are repeatedly integrated in the form of pop-up stores at various locations. That is obviously going down well with customers. In the meantime there are discussions about introducing the offer permanently in some branches, according to Vite en Vogue.
The company wants to make luxury brands available to customers who cannot afford the new Chanel bag. But also luxury fans who could afford new luxury brands regularly buy from the second-hand retailer, according to the Vite-en-Vogue CEO. “They prefer sustainable consumption,” explains Markus Schönhart.
The Vite-en-Vogue boss wants to make luxury brands available to customers who cannot afford the new Canel bag.
This includes not only buying used fashion, but also selling clothes that are no longer worn. In some Breuninger branches, customers can therefore have their old items valued and sold. As payment, you can choose between cash or a Breuninger voucher.
Karstadt has also recognized and embraced the vintage trend. In Berlin there is an entire floor for used items in the Karstadt-Haus. The offer ranges from toasters to furniture and fashion. There are also workshops – for example on rescuing textiles and rescuing food.
The fashion retailer C&A has been offering used clothing in addition to the current collection in its branch in Hamburg-Altona since mid-June. To do this, the company works with the online provider Carou. C&A had previously offered the Carou goods online.
Positive marketing effect for companies
Achim Berg, Head of Global Apparel, Fashion & Luxury Practice at McKinsey, is certain that part of the demand will shift to used goods in the future. “Retailers and brands want to find out how they should deal with this trend and how they can use it for themselves,” explains Berg. The introduction of second-hand goods has a positive marketing effect for department stores. But it also fits into the sustainability efforts of many of these companies.
The public debate on the topic of sustainability gave the dynamism and acceptance of second-hand a boost in the past year. Especially with young consumers, the aspect of sustainability as well as individuality and uniqueness is the focus today.
It is no coincidence that department stores in particular are now jumping on this trend. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, they felt the competition from online trading particularly hard. The corona crisis has given online retail an additional massive boost. The department stores now want to attract new groups of customers by offering vintage fashion.
In Great Britain and the USA, the trend towards used clothing from the internet back to retail was already indicated in 2019: The department store chain Selfridges opened a shop for used clothing in London. The US online second-hand retailer Thredup is cooperating with the department stores Macy’s and JC Penney, and the online platform The Real Real has opened its own vintage boutiques.
Most retailers enter into cooperation with digital partners both in Germany and internationally. Consultant Berg sees organizational reasons for this, among other things. The online sellers primarily provide support with the acquisition of vintage goods and check their quality. In addition, the online providers specialize in second-hand fashion and are already known to interested customers.
Germany in the experimental phase
So far, none of the department stores has offered second-hand goods across the board, but has tried out the concept in individual branches. According to Berg, Germany is currently still in an experimental phase. They want to find out how the additional offer affects the new goods business, whether it appeals to new customer groups and generates more walk-in customers.
However, the retail expert doubts that fashion houses are currently making money with second-hand fashion. He sees the additional offer more as an investment by dealers and brands in the topic.
The traditional department stores Karstadt and Kaufhof are currently working on a concept for the new start. The department store chain wants to use the remaining branches to attract customers under the name Galeria.
In the summer, the Handelsblatt asked young followers of the Instagram account Orange by Handelsblatt what a department store would have to look like so that they would go shopping there. Many stated that they would like to be offered second-hand goods in addition to new products.
Next week Galeria wants to present its concept for the rebranding. The company has announced the sale of “different groups of goods” – additional sales areas for second-hand fashion are also conceivable with Galeria 2.0.
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