When I first heard of Plato’s Closet, a store that sells used designer brand clothes, I asked myself, “Who would ever want to buy used, possibly dirty clothing when one can just buy new clothes at the mall or some other store?”
I was wrong. Plato’s Closet and most consignment stores sell rarely used, even new clothing for up to 70 percent off retail prices. And, what’s more, there is a new teen consignment store, 2nd Wave, located right by our campus! The owner of 2nd Wave, Renee Taylor, expressed her delight at the store’s grand opening at the end of the summer.
“My grand opening was an all-day event,” said Taylor. “We had a DJ come, and I was going to do a fashion show, but I couldn’t pull it together in the nick of time so I had my daughter, who’s 11 and who’s not afraid of anything, go out there and perform some songs for the parking lot crowd. We also had some frozen concoctions and food and some sales, so it was fun and there was a great turnout.”
After being introduced to the consignment business by a friend, Taylor became particularly fond of it and stated that it’s something she’s always wanted to do.
“I thought it was really neat that you could go and buy something that was in really good shape and usually don’t want to spend a lot of money on, and the atmosphere was just really friendly,” said Taylor.
2nd Wave originally started as a baby consignment store when Taylor’s son was born. But to appeal to the growing teen generation, she changed it to a teen consignment store.
Just like Plato’s Closet, 2nd Wave sells teen and young adult clothing, but there are several differences between the two.
“My store follows the same business model as Plato’s Closet and sells the same types of clothes, but I also have a lot of handmade items from people who live around the neighborhood or who live around the town in Central Florida,” said Taylor. “I have a variety of things as far as jewelry, home décor items that people bring in–those are the items that actually do really well here–surfboards, skateboards, ski gear, motorcycle helmets, etc. I also like to have a variety of things. It doesn’t have to be within the last six months from Abercrombie; if there’s a really cute vintage sweater that comes in, I’ll accept it.”
Taylor admits that when it comes to business, she likes to sell more than buy. But the whole purpose of her store is to do both.
“Although I would love to sell all day, I have to buy too,” said Taylor. “People usually make an appointment to come in and sell me their items, so I do a couple of those a day. But as I said, I’d rather do a lot more selling. But you have to buy to sell, so my business is a little bit of both all day long.”
Since its soft opening in March of this year, 2nd Wave has been doing fairly well, although business was slow during the summer. Now that Bridgewater Commons, the plaza it’s located in, is filled up with big name stores such as Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and Publix, business at 2nd Wave is increasingly becoming better.
“It’s definitely getting busier, especially with the cold spell,” said Taylor. “People come in for hoodies so I’m ready for them. I think I have to do my time just like every other new business. It takes about a year or two, but I’m pretty pleased with the progress so far.”
Taylor opened 2nd Wave not only to become a part of the consignment business, but also as a way to become closer to her family.
“I built 2nd Wave really for my family to be a part of it too,” she said. “I have a 14 year old son and an 11 year old daughter, and I opened it mainly for them. I even brought guys clothes in because I didn’t want my son to feel awkward about coming here working. I would just love to see 2nd Wave be successful, and maybe have another location, especially one by the beach. I have big goals, big dreams, and I have my fingers crossed every day, so I’m thankful to be here for sure.”
