“I’ve never seen Belmont Center in the morning as quiet as it has been for the last few days” as the lack of foot traffic had “significantly reduced sales,” she said. Since then, Castagno has seen the town’s business center grind to a halt. The only exceptions: MBTA buses and emergency vehicles. “We’ve been open since the first day we were able to open on Monday ” and customers were coming back to the store, said the manager of the Leonard Street consignment store.īut on Thursday morning, June 10, as she and other retailers were opening their doors, DPW trucks were outside their shops delivering crowd control barriers and earthmovers had placed jersey barriers at either end of the street to block traffic from entering.īy 11:30 a.m., the roadway through Belmont’s largest commercial district was closed to all traffic until Labor Day. Laura Castagno said she had growing hope the first-week Revolve Boutiques in Belmont Center was reopened would get increasingly busy after three months being locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is what it’s come to.Photo: Lauren Castagno, manager at Revolve Boutiques on Pleasant Street. I even know of a consignment shop near Central Park that’s giving away things for free,” Corlett said. “Thrift stores around the country are getting a deluge of donations and bins are overflowing. Others, like Hoholik is simply donating her gently-used items. “More resellers are doing it on their own,” said Morse, who, with her business partner, Clara Albornoz, has been in the resale business for a combined 40 years. This incident was preceded by several other issues - from inaccurate product descriptions to lowball pricing - that took months to resolve. Some thrifters (myself included) have experienced this firsthand after having difficulty returning an item that somehow got lost in the mail. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) A pile of clothing waits to be claimed by thrifters on August 18, 2021. The pay by pound section of the Garment District thrift shop in Cambridge, MA has opened for the first time during the pandemic. Instead, timeless pieces - including handbags, totes and accessories - are selling well, as are items with sentimental value, she added. "They’re only going to accept what their client base is going to take.” “There’s not much demand for that perfect pencil skirt, or other things that seem so ‘yesterday.' Why invest in cashmere sweaters to wear around the house?" Corlett said. Our lifestyle changes - especially as work-from-home and hybrid arrangements become more permanent - have only complicated matters. “They will come to your house and literally take nothing, and that’s if they come at all.” “They’re getting very selective about hard goods in particular - sofas, tables, chairs,” said Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a research and consulting firm. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Īs the secondhand market continues to explode (It is projected to double in the next five years, reaching $77 billion in annual sales by 2025, according to GlobalData), guidelines are getting even stricter as excess supply piles up. Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan begins on June 8, allowing retail and outdoor dining to open. Revolve Consignment Boutique owner Lisa Castagno opens up her Newton, MA store on June 8, 2020.
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