Consignment finds
Remember the glory days of retail in Palm Beach County, when Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus sent new stores to these shores with hurricane-like regularity?

When CityPlace, then the Mall at Wellington Green, then Downtown at the Gardens, sprouted up like toadstools after a summer afternoon shower?

Those days — eh, they’re washed away.

But this year, consignment stores have found a foothold here, in part because they’re the kind of businesses that thrive in a community where women have historically been world-class shoppers.
Local fashion followers “have a lot of stuff,” says April Willis, co-owner of Collectable & Delectable, a new West Palm Beach luxury consignment store. “Why not have an opportunity to get a return on it?”
And why not give cash-strapped shoppers a chance to pick up almost-new pieces at a fraction of the brand-new cost?

“If you can buy the champagne for the price of a beer, naturally you’re going to go for the champagne,” says Dan Pickering, co-owner of Carnaby Street, a consignment boutique in Palm Beach Gardens.
We recently visited a handful of newer consignment and resale stores in the area, but before you browse their racks, consider these facts:

• Nationally, 64 percent of resale shops sold more in the second quarter of 2009 than they did in the second quarter of 2008, and almost 78 percent of the stores reported an increase in new customers. That’s according to a survey of its members by the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, which says the number of resale stores is growing about 7 percent a year.

• Red Balloon Consignment Shop, a mainstay of the retail landscape for 32 years, opened a second store in Wellington in June. Business there has been “fabulous,” says owner Pat Snayd.

Over the past year, Snayd saw an increase in traffic and sales at her West Palm Beach location.
“A lot of people have found out about consignment that didn’t know about it before. It’s a lot more accepted than it ever has been,” she says. “People have good things in their closet, and they’re tired of not getting anything back from them.”

More interest in recycling also has helped raise the profile of consignment, she says.

• City Girl Consignment has been open seven months in West Palm Beach, but owner Tami Rowe says she’s already turning a profit and plans to expand store hours and hire more help this fall.

“A lot of consignors have told me, ‘Oh, normally I just drop things off at Goodwill, but now I realize I have really nice clothes, and in this economy I could use the extra money.”

While the economic downturn has taken the air out of so many pursuits, it hasn’t affected the passion that many women feel for shopping, Rowe says.

“Even though things are a little tight and everyone’s trying to watch it, they still want to shop.

“But they want to shop smarter.”

Carnaby Street

Downtown at the Gardens, Palm Beach Gardens, (561) 626-4656. Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Who’s minding the store: Business partners Tracey Ferrara and Dan Pickering — she oversees the merchandising, while he handles the books. Open since January, Carnaby Street (the name and Union Jack business cards reflect Ferrara’s London upbringing) has attracted roughly 75 consignors to a shopping center that’s less than bustling.

What kinds of things you’ll find: Vintage designer pieces from the old Martha Phillips boutique on Worth Avenue and newer items such as a See by Chloe hobo skirt ($50), Christian Dior tank ($70), Vera Wang capris ($60) and several Ralph Lauren black label jackets and sweaters.

Gucci booties, $180

Lela Rose cocktail dress, $280

Vic Wood ostrich handbag, $180

City Girl Consignment

2417 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, (561) 820-0075. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

Who’s minding the store: Tami Rowe, a former FedEx driver and frustrated interior decorator. In March, she opened City Girl in a historic house near Flamingo Park, painted the walls pink, plopped a purple velvet couch by the door and laid down animal-print rugs — and pretty much every stick of furniture and piece of art is for sale, too. “I’m always going to be thrifting,” Rowe says, “but my house cannot hold another item.”

What kinds of things you’ll find: Like the décor, the clothing and accessories lean toward the youthful, the colorful, the funky — Juicy Couture, Lilly Pulitzer, Trina Turk and Milly — but there’s also a room of children’s clothes and, upstairs, designer clothes, vintage finds and menswear.

Temperley London eyelet dress, $65

True Religion patchwork jeans, $50

Anthropologie beaded sundress, $48

The Bees Knees

704 Lake Ave., Lake Worth, (561) 904-6725 Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday

Who’s minding the store: Emily Regan, a native of New Zealand with a background in retail and the beauty business (she owned a salon in Australia before moving to South Florida 19 years ago). “With the economy the way it is, I decided there was an opening for new and pre-loved clothing and furniture.” The Bees Knees opened in June.

What kinds of things you’ll find: The front two-thirds of the store is furniture and home accessories, while the back holds apparel that’s “middle of the road” in its origin — i.e. Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, Nine West.

“And then, of course, I’ve got the purple clothes from the Red Hat brigade,” Regan says.
Borgo 28 designer men’s shirts, $40 each (made in Florence, Italy, they are otherwise unavailable in Florida)

Collage baby dress, $8

BCBG dress, $50

Collectable & Delectable, Inc.

3311 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, (561) 655-8799. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Who’s minding the store: April Willis and Lindsey Schuster, both of whom grew up in the Palm Beach area and met while working at Cartier in Boca Raton. They’ve run an eBay store since 2003, and in June opened a chic Antique Row outpost (think white furnishings and wooden clothes hangers).

They offer free pickup for those liquidating entire stores or large closets and take a 40 percent commission (most stores take 50 or 60 percent).

“People invest significantly in their wardrobes, and we try to give the most back,” Willis says.
What kinds of things you’ll find: Ladies, this is uptown consignment: luxury apparel, shoes, bags and jewelry — i.e. Armani suits, Hermes scarves, Pucci skirts. Upstairs, they maintain a selection of moderately priced designers and some vintage.

Jimmy Choo patent leather pumps, $189

Chanel embroidered velvet jeans, $250

Louis Vuitton raincoat, $999

Do your clothes have what it takes, to be taken to the consignment store?

They might, if they’re relatively new (or decidedly vintage) and if they’re in “like new” condition.
Guidelines vary, but in general, store owners will attempt to sell a consignor’s items for three to six months.

If the pieces sell, they’ll divvy up the proceeds — the consignor will collect anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the selling price.

If the items don’t sell, most stores donate them to a charity.

A few more things to know:

Book an appointment.

Call the store owner ahead of time. “You don’t just throw your clothes in a bag and walk on in,” says Carnaby Street’s Nancy Pickering.

Take only your best.

Stores want clothes that are currently in fashion (or not more than a couple of years old), in excellent shape and are clean. “You can’t put anything worn or dirty on your racks,” says Emily Regan at The Bees Knees. “It’ll drag everything else down.”

Timing is everything.

Consignment stores sell by season — they don’t cram racks with coats in June or swimsuits in December. Most shops are currently accepting “light fall” clothes.

The bride lied …

If you don’t want to wear your bridesmaid dress again, chances are consignment shops won’t say “I do” either, “unless the dress can really be dressed up to not look ‘bridesmaid’,” says Tami Rowe of City Girl.

Delray resale boutique looks for clothes with flair

Shopping for wardrobe staples — the nondescript black dress, the boring navy blazer?

The Frugal Fashionista probably won’t have them, says owner Amber Ortoll. “It’s not the best if you’re looking for khaki pants and a white tank top.”

But, if you’re looking for on-trend, name-brand women’s fashions at within-reach prices, the Delray Beach resale boutique is a good bet. On a recent weekday, it had:

Bottega Veneta and Via Spiga handbags for less than $50.

An embroidered and beaded Elie Tahari blouse for $18.95.

A Vince velvet jacket for $24.95 (new Vince jackets start around $400).

Ortoll and her staff scour thrift stores from Miami to North Palm Beach — logging a combined 50 hours a week — cherry-picking the best Chanel shells, Prada mules and Max Mara pants (and, for different tastes, Chico’s jackets and Eileen Fisher tunics).

Then, Ortoll prices those pieces to sell. (Just check out the selection of sorbet-colored cashmere sweaters for $20 a piece.)

Ortoll sold her finds on eBay for three years before opening her brick-and-mortar store in April.
“I’m kind of a style schizophrenic. Everyone ends up finding something here.”

Unless they’re in the market for dull…

825 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach, (561) 865-7857

Open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday