Popularity of resale boosts consignment shop

Resale is big right now and business is booming at Selective Seconds Consignment Shop in Greenwood, which is planning a move to a nearby location that will give it room to grow.

Selective Seconds, which sells women’s clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories, is a tenant in the Country Center Shoppes shopping center at 1140 N. Indiana 135, just south of County Line Road. By year’s end the store will move one block south to 1000 N. Indiana 135, a former chiropractic office that’s being renovated.

In its current location, the store occupies about 5,000 square feet—a sales floor of about 3,000 square feet, with the remaining 2,000 square feet used to process incoming merchandise.

The new building offers about the same square footage, but it’s a standalone building on a roomy site.

“What I like about the new property is that it sits on 2 acres, and plenty of room to expand,” said Selective Seconds’ owner, Vena Holden. “I’m confident that this is a smart move for me.”

Holden’s entity, Blue Suede Properties LLC, purchased the property in August for $850,000, Johnson County records show.

Holden was a single mother working as a legal secretary when she opened Selective Seconds in 1997 with $1,000. The store originally operated out of a rental site in Mooresville, later opening a second location in Greenwood. (Holden has since sold the Mooresville store.)

Selective Seconds is on a hot streak right now. “My sales over the last three months have increased more than 10 percent—closer to 20 percent,” Holden said.

Much of that growth is because the store has amped up its marketing efforts, including posting live shows on social media, Holden said.

In a format similar to QVC or the Home Shopping Network, Selective Seconds schedules live merchandise shows on Facebook several times a week. During the shows a store employee presents selected items, and customers who are watching the show live via Facebook can post messages to claim items they want. The items are then set aside for pickup and purchase.

But Holden said some of her sales growth is also because resale culture has become a hot trend. “When I started the business, people were embarrassed to admit they shopped resale,” Holden said. “Now, people are proud to be a smart shopper.”

In August, both Macy’s and J.C. Penney announced they were partnering with online consignment retailer thredUP to offer an array of second-hand merchandise at selected stores. ThredUP’s website indicates its merchandise is available at 40 Macy’s stores, 30 J.C. Penney locations and 44 Stage Stores Inc. retail sites, which include the Goody’s, Peebles and Gordmans chains. None of those locations are in Indiana—the closest are Macy’s stores in Cincinnati and Chicago.

In other news this week:

—A walk-up taco stand called Zombie Taco would be part of a hotel planned for a site that is currently a parking lot at 125 S. Meridian St. Developers White Lodging and REI Real Estate Services are planning to build a $50 million dual-branded hotel that includes both Moxy—which caters to millennials—and an AC Hotel, geared toward business travelers. The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission approved the plan Wednesday.

Zombie Taco, which would be located between the Moxy and the AC, would feature both indoor and outdoor seating and allow customers to order from either inside the Moxy or from the sidewalk. White Lodging developed Zombie Taco and launched the concept last year next to its Moxy hotel in downtown Chicago.

— The yogurt and coffee shop Yogulatte closed its last remaining store, at 755 Massachusetts Ave., last weekend. It opened in 2010. At one time Yogulatte also had stores at 5412 N. College Ave. and at 1032 Main St. in Speedway, both of which have since closed.

— Discount grocery chain Aldi reopened its Shelbyville store this morning following extensive renovations to the store at 2695 E. Range Road. The renovations are part of Aldi’s ongoing effort to update 22 Indianapolis-area stores by the end of 2020, representing a total investment of more than $30 million.

— A couple of new stores are coming to area Simon Property Group malls. At Edinburgh Premium Outlets in Edinburgh, discount bookseller Book Warehouse is set to open later this month. Plus-sized women’s retailer Torrid is also planning to open an outlet store at the Edinburgh mall, though its opening date hasn’t been announced. And at Greenwood Park Mall, Sally Beauty Supply is set to open in February. The chain already has more than a dozen Indianapolis-area stores, including sites in Indianapolis, Speedway, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Lebanon, Brownsburg, Greenfield, Plainfield, Franklin and Shelbyville.