Scouring overstuffed clothing racks for hidden gems and vintage items that express individuality used to be a prime pastime for college students and teenagers with part-time jobs.

But a huge swath of millennials never outgrew the practice and have been joined at thrift stores and consignment shops by Gen Z consumers more interested in sustainability than fast-fashion trends. 

Now, traditional retailers are looking for a way into the growing $53B used clothes trade, and landlords are vying for their devoted traffic.

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Vintage Levi’s have experienced a boom in popularity among secondhand apparel shoppers.

“When you think about Gen Z and millennials, thrifting is huge,” Telsey Advisory Group CEO and Chief Research Officer Dana Telsey said during Weitzman’s annual retail forecast event earlier this month. “It’s not a hobby — it’s how they think of shopping, and it’s not necessarily just the guys or the girls. They’re going together and it’s an activity.” 

As younger shoppers push for a sustainable future for fashion, the secondhand apparel market is booming in the U.S. and around the globe. Resale retail generated around $53B in revenue domestically in 2023, and secondhand apparel sales are expected to continue rising 11% annually through at least 2028, per Capital One research.

Secondhand apparel sales also outpaced traditional retail spending throughout 2024, according to data from Consumer Edge, most markedly among younger shoppers.

Shoppers aged 25 to 44 increased their spending on secondhand items by 6% more than the year prior during the first 10 months of 2024. That was the largest uptick of any age group and played a part in the study’s conclusion that resale retail had “strong momentum” heading into the new year. 

The growth of the resale industry has garnered the attention of traditional retail executives, with nearly three-quarters of those surveyed by resale platform ThredUp saying they’re looking at getting into the game. H&M, American Eagle, Kate Spade and Banana Republic are among the brands that have launched or announced plans to launch resale programs in recent years.

‘Attractive To Landlords’

There are more than 25,000 secondhand shops in the U.S., with chains like Plato’s Closet, Uptown Cheapskate, Clothes Mentor and the children-focused Once Upon A Child each accounting for hundreds of them. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Weitzman Vice President Robin Barrow has worked with each of those brands.

Most of the upscale consignment shops target Class-B shopping centers or better, while traditional thrift stores often are in Class-C spaces, Barrow said. And they are becoming hot commodities.

“These concepts do very well and they are attractive to landlords,” Barrow said, noting secondhand stores all stay busy. “There is a Once Upon A Child in one of the Weitzman centers that has expanded twice. It’s at 10K SF because they do so well.”

That 10K SF space is an outlier for most resale retail, as Barrow said stores are usually 4K SF or under. Each brand has its own niche in the resale retail game and doesn’t want other secondhand stores popping up too close.

Bisnow/Billy Wadsack

Uptown Cheapskate mainly targets Gen Z and millennial shoppers with trendy secondhand apparel from well-known brands.

“Restrictive language in the leases prevent … competitors going into the same center,” Barrow said. “Will it prevent them from going into the center next door? Probably not.”

Resellers don’t tend to have such qualms about traditional retailers like Macy’s, which has made a push toward smaller-format stores in recent years to target the high-traffic shopping centers resale retailers prefer.

But with more fast-fashion brands diving into the resale trend, those smaller-format retailers could soon become competition.

In addition to being a new revenue stream for bigger, traditional brands, the resale element is seen as a way to convert new shoppers into diehards.

ThredUp’s survey of customers found 35% of Gen Z and millennial consumers were more likely to shop stores that offer secondhand apparel alongside new apparel. Plus, nearly 40% of those consumers shop secondhand clothing to afford higher-end brands. 

Lululemon Athletica and Patagonia rule the resale roost, but brands like Vuori, Aritzia and Spanx are rising stars in the market, according to ThredUp’s report. Online thrifting is strong with users of sites like ThredUp and Poshmark, but shoppers from all generations are visiting more physical resale stores.

“You have [companies] who tried to be pure online plays that are discovering that there’s only so far you can go with the pure online before you’re back at brick and mortar,” veteran thrift and consignment shop owner Catherine Bracken said. 

‘The Line Never Ends’

A passion for secondhand fashion is what Matt and Dawn Macek hope to capture with their new business Plaid Fox, which will employ a different concept than many American shoppers have seen at thrift and consignment shops.

Instead of straight consignment, those looking to sell items will have the chance to rent a rack for a week at a time and set up a mini-boutique when the store opens in mid-February in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound. The concept is like a brick-and-mortar Poshmark and similar to the business model of Painted Tree Boutiques, according to Bracken, who is advising Plaid Fox.

Plaid Fox’s business model, which will net the store 35% of sales, is modeled on a concept popular in secondhand stores throughout Finland, Bracken said. She’s excited to see how it does in the suburb that boasts a population of around 80,000 and a median household income of nearly $158K per year.

Plaid Fox’s concept could be the answer to the labor problem many thrift stores deal with due to the barrage of customers looking to sell old apparel. 

“The line never ends and everybody’s mad,” Bracken said. “That’s the business of selling used clothing.”

While everybody loves a bargain, Telsey noted most brands are resold at a variety of price points. The rise in the resale market can also give brands a higher cool factor, as she noted has happened with the popularity of vintage Levi’s.

Telsey said she expects resale retail will maintain and grow its popularity throughout 2025. 

Bisnow/Billy Wadsack

Traditional thrift stores like Goodwill and this Thrift City location in Richardson, Texas, offer apparel and secondhand items at significant discounts.

Tyler Chanel is a former fast-fashion model who became a Gen Z thrifting influencer through her Thrifts and Tangles blog and Instagram account centered on ethical shopping and sustainability. Chanel said she gets nearly all of her clothes, outside of undergarments, from thrifting. 

“I try to shop my values,” Chanel said. “I try to get secondhand first, and if I can’t find it secondhand, I’ll try to find a sustainable or an ethical company to support.”

When fast fashion pieces end up in landfills, that contributes to the environmental crisis many Gen Z shoppers are looking to fight, Chanel said. To counteract that, she said her generation of consumers opt to “vote with their dollars” by thrifting. 

“You’re extending the lifespan of clothing,” Chanel said. “[Plus] it’s just more affordable – you could get really quality items for a decent price.”

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and St. Louis aren’t generally known as fashion epicenters, but they’re the top U.S. cities among a ranking of the nation’s sustainable fashion capitals. With a concentration of highly-rated charity shops and thrift stores per 100,000 residents, those flyover state cities ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the list compiled by sustainable fashion brand NovaTomato.

“It is fascinating to see which of the nation’s cities are the sustainable fashion capitals,” NovaTomato CEO Lyn Bai said via email. “Florida seems to be the top sustainable fashion state, with three of its cities appearing in the top 10, followed by Ohio, which has two.”  

While those cities are highly regarded, Chanel said almost every city has thrifting gems. Based in Los Angeles, she said her followers have been surprised by how affordable thrifting can be there.

“You can get cashmere pieces for under 10 bucks sometimes,” she said, calling thrifting a “treasure hunt.”

That thrill of the hunt also appeals to The Outfit Repeater blog founder Hannah Rupp. 

In addition to her blog, the Wisconsin-based millennial also works as a social media manager for women’s clothing store Maurices. Rupp said 90% of her wardrobe is thrifted items, with most of the rest coming from Maurices. She said she is surprised when customers get excited to learn something she’s wearing came from thrifting.

Part of thrifting’s growing popularity is due to its sustainability and the affordability of the pastime, Rupp said. But it’s also a lot of fun.

“You never know what you’re going to find,” Rupp said. “You get cool, unique things and it’s definitely a way to express yourself.”