#crossroads trading

[brittanybutler]

Emotional finale tonight! 😭 Farewell, The Fosters! Such a fantastic show that meant so much to people. It’s been a great 5 years. Throwback to when I ran into Sherri Saum in LA back in 2014! 💖

[desmadrechi]

Coffee Break 

From Vivi: Fall 2017 is here and we can somewhat feel it in the air here in Chicago. For this look I wanted to serve you my quintessential fall look.  I'm wearing a pair of tailored brown checked trousers, a black knit turtleneck, and a sand colored suede coat, all from H&M. The look is very urban business girl, meets dark temptress.  

I have accessorized with a pair of snake earrings from H&M, a gold choker from Urban outfitters, a gold quilted book bag from French Connection, and my mother's gold bracelet.  The sunnies are from H&M's Premium Quality collection. To complete the look I'm rocking my Guess black patent pointy shoes. This was a fun shoot to welcome the fall season, and now we are officially ready for all the good things that come with it like  Abuelita hot chocolate, the leaves changing, and the most important holiday of the year Halloween! 

From Karen: Bridgeport has been a meeting point for Vivi and I for years, and Bridgeport Coffee House is our usual go-to spot whenever we need to discuss something or take a quick break. I loved shooting here and really capturing the coffee shop’s energy and uniqueness. For this look I was channeling a little bit of Paris with my red Beret from Avon and my green vintage oval purse I found at Crossroads Trading Co. in Evanston. From there I knew I wanted to wear these furry black exposed mules from H&M but in order to take it into the fall season, I paired them with some white nylon socks. The star of the show is definitely the vintage paisley dress I found at Unique Thrift as well as my favorite denim jacket! it’s a vintage Guess jacket I found a few years ago and is my most prized denim! My only regret here is not ordering a latte and having that on the set! 

[dippedanddripped]

Russell outdoor mossy oak obsession cargo pants.

[dippedanddripped]

'The pie is bigger now': How Crossroads Trading is staying competitive during the rise of brick-and-mortar resale – Glossy

The rise of these digital-focuses resale platforms, from Rebag and The RealReal to the various sneaker resellers like StockX and Goat, may seem like a problem for Crossroads Trading, a brick-and-mortar-only reseller that has been around for nearly 30 years, but Gina Nowicki, director of marketing and communications at Crossroads, said that’s not the case at all.

The rise of these digital-focused resale platforms, from Rebag and The RealReal to the various sneaker resellers like StockX and Goat, may seem like a problem for Crossroads Trading, a brick-and-mortar-only reseller that has been around for nearly 30 years, but Gina Nowicki, director of marketing and communications at Crossroads, said that’s not the case at all.

“Overall, it has benefited us a lot as a business,” Nowicki said. “Because what these online resellers have done is put a lot of marketing dollars into making secondhand clothing more mainstream. They’ve increased the share for everyone; the pie is bigger now — and people are liking the sustainability of it.”

Crossroads Trading is hoping to capitalize on the growth of the resale sector by doubling down on its physical retail strategy, something that it believes sets it apart from its competitors.

Nowicki said marketing Crossroads as a resale platform that’s distinct from thrift — which has been a goal, considering thrift’s cheap connotations — has also become easier.

“I would say that probably the turning point was with the economic downturn,” she said. “I’ve been with Crossroads since 2007. We didn’t use the word ‘thrift’ ever. We sell contemporary clothing, usually not more than 2 years old. But people were more open to resale during the economic downturn. It became cool to thrift and buy pre-owned.”

Most of the big players in the space today started online-only, like The RealReal, and have slowly expanded into physical retail over the years as it became clear that physical retail is still a valuable sales channel. But Crossroads, which has 37 stores and 500 total employees, has made physical retail its sole area of focus. Nowicki declined to give specific revenue numbers, but the most recent figures available placed the company’s annual revenue at $21 million in 2012.

“A lot of digital brands are starting to move toward physical stores,” Nowicki said. “We don’t have any online business at all. We don’t plan on doing that, either. As the other online competitors come into this marketplace, we want to make sure we address convenience for our customers so that we don’t fall behind — but we find that there are a lot of people who are still looking for that physical experience. They still want cash and trade with no waiting. They want to try things on. When clothes are used and washed and worn, you want to see the condition in person. People still care about that a lot.”

Resellers like StockX have turned to physical retail to entice new buyers and sellers and to streamline some of the processes that can take much longer if conducted entirely digitally — it can take days or weeks for a product to be shipped, received, entered into a system and authenticated before a payment is delivered to a seller. In July, Scott Newman, director of streetwear at StockX, told Glossy that consumers sometimes need the “face-to-face interaction to get across the line” and convert.

“Whether stores are selling their own goods or secondhand items, they’re all realizing the name of the game today is offering an optimal customer experience,” said Corey Pierson, CEO of customer analytics company Custora. “The line between ‘online commerce’ and ‘offline commerce’ is blurring. The same customers who prefer to go in-store to buy apparel might also enjoy browsing secondhand items while they’re there. The same customers who browse secondhand items online might also be interested in seeing similar items direct from brands themselves. The main idea is to meet the consumer where he or she is shopping, and to provide the optimal selection wherever that is.”

Crossroads Trading’s closest thing to online sales is a sell-by-mail option, where customers can ship in their unwanted clothes remotely rather than bringing them to a physical location. Instead, to stay competitive, the company has put all its resources into improving the physical aspect of shopping, opening two or three new stores per year for the foreseeable future and continuing to build out an in-store app developed in 2017, which allows customers to plan their sales and purchases before they reach the store. Currently, the app lets potential customers add themselves to the queue of a seller looking to offload clothes and to receive notifications when it’s their turn to shop the seller’s items– no need to enter a store.

For sellers, Crossroads is competitive with newer platforms like The RealReal. Both platforms offer individual sellers 50% of the price their items are tagged.

Nowicki said there’s more than enough room in the resale space for Crossroads to focus on physical retail while competitors focus on digital.

“It’s a tricky thing to do online sales,” Nowicki said. “For us, going online would mean taking on an enormous amount of new responsibilities: taking the clothes online, sorting them, photographing them, storing them, shipping them. We can still get a lot out of physical stores.”

[desmadrechi]

Wanna Play?

From Vivi: This shoot was very fun and playful. For this look I wanted to play with those young and wild vibes.  I’m wearing a faux fur coat that I’ve owned since I was 10 from GAP, H&M jeans, and blue metallic loafers from ASOS.  

For accessories I’m wearing holographic earrings from H&M, lilac lipstick from Kat Von D Beauty, and I put my hair up in a top knot bun.  I think we will forever be kids at heart.  

From Karen: For this week’s shoot, I was inspired by Adidas’s most recent collection and their fashion week installation that included a jungle gym. While we weren’t able to find an exact same jungle gym or capture the same vibe, I really like the way this turned out. We’re having some fun and got in tune with our childhood spirits. I’m wearing white Nike boots, a metallic silver jumpsuit from Target, some shades from Crossroads Trading Co.

[crossroadstrading]

Behind-the-scenes with Beth Jones as she shoots a video with Crossroads for spring!

[crossroadstrading]

How to get the most bang for your back when shopping secondhand!

[jeinous]

Seller’s Remorse👚👟👕👟 I sold all of my sweaters yesterday; except for the Mickey Mouse one on top, lol. And two pairs of (kaishi? roshe?) Nikes. Now, I miss them all. Sad face. Also, I sold the United Colors of Benetton fitted ski(?) jacket I bought in Rome (or maybe it was Florence?), the year I went to visit my sister; who failed to tell me that it was absolutely freezing in Italy in March. I keep doing a nostalgic trip down memory lane to all the landmarks (Colloseum!) I wore that coat to after I bought it. Is this normal? To miss clothes, shoes, jackets? I suppose not, but I still miss them all💛. I hope the next owner enjoys them as much as I did (and flies to Italy with all of them!).🙂🛫💃🏻 Happy Tuesday, Fashion Brownie:) p.s. Every time I go to sell my clothes, I start babbling on and on about nonsense. I think I have more interesting convos with the buyers at the store than I do with my 'friends.😂