A new clothing exchange shop that opened in Scottsdale Thursday is attracting many ASU customers.
Plato’s Closet, a nationwide chain for used designer and name-brand clothing, opened near Scottsdale and Thomas roads.
This is the second location to open in the Valley. The first store is in Chandler.
So far about half the clientele has been made of ASU students, storeowner Holly DeLuca said.
“It’s clearly going to be a hotspot for ASU students,” she said.
The store has stocked a complete ASU section from a single private seller, a Plato’s Closet storeowner from Reno, Hillary Schieve said.
The section features ASU T-shirts, shorts and bags.
The store has been paying cash for gently used clothing from the public since Aug. 23, DeLuca said.
They started selling clothing for the first time Thursday, she said.
The store has a variety of clothes, accessories and shoes for both men and women.
DeLuca said that instead of setting a price for clothing themselves they use software based on the sales of similar clothing at Plato’s Closet stores across the country.
Schieve said their “cash for clothes” model has been successful and will allow her to open her second store in Reno Nov. 1.
“We believe we need to pay more to have better items,” Shieve said.
Eventually they hope to offer store credit for used clothing, DeLuca said.
The store, rather than focusing on vintage clothes, mainly sells mall brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap, she said.
“We might dabble into a unique piece or two but that’s not our main focus,” DeLuca said.
Psychology sophomore Kasi Hernandez has been a store employee since it moved into the location in August and said it was exciting to see the store open with such a large selection of ASU clothing.
“It’s the perfect place to appeal to ASU enthusiasts,” Hernandez said.
Marisa Peck, 26, a Scottsdale resident, said she was impressed by how much the store paid for their clothes. She said she made $400 on four boxes of clothes.
She also said that the store was “more trendy” and had “better selection” than similar stores in the area, like Buffalo Exchange.
Reach the reporter at mary.shinn@asu.edu
