Melissa Reed, owner of My Sister’s Closet, stated that she has always enjoyed shopping for a deal on high-end items, but she could hardly ever find the things she was looking for locally.
Knowing that she wasn’t the only woman in Ludington looking for a deal on a budget, she decided to open a store to fill the void.
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“It was a very quick decision from the minute I had the idea until the minute the decision was made was all in the space of an afternoon,” Reed said. “The fall before we opened, Raven’s was closing, there was inexpensive retail space available on South James Street and our son’s girlfriend at the time was looking for a job. When Raven’s closed, there weren’t many places in the area to shop for better quality clothing, so I thought maybe we would find a market.”
Reed opened My Sister’s Closet in 2015 and after changing locations to have a presence on Ludington Avenue, she has decided to relocate the store one more time, change its name and consolidate her items to offer a smaller selection of the top resale items she can find.
“Several years ago, my husband and I remodeled a house we had bought into our forever home,” Reed said. “It was about half the size of the house where we raised our kids, so we could only bring our absolute favorite things with us. The result was that everything around us we absolutely love. My lease was up at 115 W. Ludington Ave., and I was inspired by the downsizing my husband and I had done.
“I decided to look for a smaller space and elevate the quality and value of our inventory even more. We have always been known as a higher end consignment store, but I wanted to take it up a notch.”
With what started in an afternoon, My Sister’s Closet has had customers buying and selling their items for many years and Reed stated that Moda — Elevated Fashion by My Sister’s Closet will be everything her customers have loved all these years, but better.
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“After seven years, people certainly know the name My Sister’s Closet, so I wanted to keep that, but I also wanted some way to indicate a refinement or elevation of our business,” Reed stated. “I worked with Chris Van Wyck of Engine Creative and we came up with Moda — Elevated Fashion by My Sister’s Closet. ‘Moda’ means style in Italian and Spanish.”
Reed and her staff have been working on remodeling the new space and she is hopeful that she will be able to open it by the end of April if all goes to plan. She stated the space is smaller, but she is excited about the location and the clean slate it offered her to be able to design it how she wanted.
“The new store is about half the size of our old location, so in downsizing we only have room for half the inventory,” she said. “It wasn’t hard to figure out which half of the inventory we would discontinue; the bottom half. The brands that we carry are department or mall store quality or better and the kinds of brands and styles that you would find in boutiques. I usually say if you bought your shirt at the same store you bought your groceries, it’s probably not something we can consign for you.”
Customers looking to consign their items will be able to easily access the store in the back, where Reed stated there will be a place to drop items off instead of having to haul them around on Ludington Avenue. She hopes that her previous customers will continue to bring in the quality products for resale that they have since the store’s inception.
“Our rule is that every item has to be perfectly clean with absolutely no signs of wear,” Reed said. “We steam or press everything, so every garment feels special. We sell our inventory at about half the regular retail price, and we research almost every item to see how it is selling on other second hand markets. This makes for a great mix. There’s nothing better than finding a treasure and a deal at the same time.”
Moda will be located at 212 W. Ludington Ave., next door to Vintage Nutz and Trailhead Bike Shop.
“It was important to me to be downtown and on Ludington Avenue, so it wasn’t easy to find a space,” Reed said. “I’m happy to say that virtually every retail store front on the avenue is full. We had almost given up when I happened to drive by the space. I called the owner (who is also my next-door neighbor) and found out, to my surprise, that it was available.
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“When I walked in, I fell in love. It is full of light and the display window is huge. Best of all, it was a mostly unfinished space, so we did a custom paint job and build out. The west end of downtown is teeming with activity, and I am excited to be there.”
Reed stated that she chose resale over brand new retail because she knew many women wanted better quality items, but couldn’t always afford them. She stated when she first started working, the only way she could afford nicer work clothes was to buy them on consignment. She also stated that she went the resale route because it is better for the environment.
“Fast fashion or disposable clothing is absolutely horrible for the planet,” she said. “Low-quality clothing that falls apart after a couple of washes generates 13 million tons of landfill waste every year. I just don’t want to contribute to that by being a consumer of that stuff.”
With not many options for buying clothing in the area, Reed stated that a lot of times women tend to be wearing the same things out and about and she figured consignment offers her customers more options to change up their wardrobes.
“I just love that each item in my store is unique,” she said. “There won’t be 20 women walking around wearing the same thing. I believe women would rather not dress like everyone else in town.”
The new space will be open daily, and Reed stated things are moving along quite well, so she’s hopeful they will open their doors in April.
“The current plan is to open at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 20,” she said. “We will be open seven days a week – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. If everything is not perfectly ready by April 20, we will push our opening date back because I love a big reveal and a ‘wow’ moment. I don’t miss many deadlines, soApril 20 is looking pretty good.”
Source: https://t-tees.com
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