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As the stock market tumbles and economic forecasts grow more grim, at least one niche of the economy is proving to be a safe haven of sales: the business of reselling second-hand items.
Curio-hocking flea markets and couture -carrying consignment stores are selling more of their wares, vendors say, their doors — and cash registers — opened to a growing clientele in search of name brands at a bargain.
For vendor Jackie Morris, prices were a bit too low, she said as would-be buyers rummaged through piles of kids' jeans and sweatshirts, stacks of shoes and CDs and video games.
After making $200 at the Village flea market last year in her first foray as a vendor, she hoped this year to make enough to pay some bills and have some spending money for her children Tre, 7, and Aiyana, 5.
But it was clear that buyers were also feeling the pinch, she said, and rock-bottom prices were expected. After two hours, name-brand pieces she had priced at $6 were down to $3.
"It's crazy this year with the economy. People are trying to get things really dirt cheap and it's hard because you pay a lot of money for these things," Morris said. "Oh my god, that's the hardest thing. Definitely here people are looking to buy cheap. I sold yarn that I probably paid $3 for and they wanted it for 50 cents. I mean everything: jeans they want to pay a dollar for and you paid what, $16 or whatever. It's both ways: we're trying to make money and they want a good deal. So a lot of people walk away with no sales, but it's like, how low do you go? You're practically giving it away."
But those deals were a boon for the hundreds of shoppers like Erika Kirk, who perused the flea market Saturday before heading off to yard sales. Since giving birth to her son Parker, 6 months, she and her mother Maya have made it a weekend routine to check out yard sales to buy him clothes.
At the Village flea market, she made off with a grab bag full of rompers, a pair of overalls and a Redskins outfit. The stash might have been $40 at a traditional retailer, Kirk said. She spent about $8 — just right, she said, for a young mother with a penchant for brand names.
"I like designer stuff, and a lot of times I'll find him designer stuff here for a dollar," she said. "I'll go to a store and it's like $15."
Consignment sales up
Even some of the most well-to-do consumers are tightening their belts, said Ellen Didion, owner of the Gaithersburg consignment boutique Chic to Chic.
"We're hearing it a lot more than we've ever heard it before," she said.
With sales down for traditional retailers, more of their unsold merchandise is being pushed to consignment stores.
Nationwide, the number of second-hand stores has increased about 5 percent in each of the past three years — up to more than 25,000, according to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. In a survey of 185 of its members this spring, 75 reported that sales were up over the same period last year, with an average increase of 30 percent. Eighty percent of the stores saw an increase in customers and 65 percent drew in new suppliers. Ten percent of respondents reported a decrease in sales, according to the survey.
Didion's store is stocked full of hard-to-find and hardly worn Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, St. John, Marc Jacobs and Fendi.
"People are looking for ways to either save money or make money. That's always been a dominating factor, but particularly right now when things are so much of a struggle and people are trying to come up with creative ways, that's helping our business really thrive," Didion said.
Her business has never been better. Sales have risen for each of the 11 years since Chic to Chic set up shop in a strip mall off Shady Grove Road and Gaither Road. Didion doubled the store's size last year, and her customer e-mail list has grown to thousands of women. She opened a store in downtown Frederick two weeks ago.
"This is a very exciting industry to be in right now," Didion said.
