It used to be local entrepreneurs who opened such stores without plans to develop networks or brands out of it.
Companies with such plans did emerge in recent years, and the first to do so were foreign companies. This development avenue came as a result of more and more consumers seeking such stores, either trying to find one-of-kind apparel or out of concern for the environment.
Three second-hand apparel chains developing in Romania at the moment are La Majole, Humana and Monda but the standalone no-name stores continue to dominate the market.
There are no official data about sales or the number of stores in Romania but a rise in second-hand apparel stores in big cities and in small and medium-sized cities has been visible in the last few years.
Networks mostly go to big and medium-sized cities like Humana, which has tens of stores in Romania. The company continues expansion but admits the pandemic did affect it.
“We are affected by the coronavirus pandemic situation. We had to close eight stores in 2020. This year the plan is to continue expansion and revert to as many stores as we had before the pandemic. We are confident and want people to become aware of the benefits of buying second hand,” the corporate website reads.
La Majole is a nine second-hand store chain, its website says, most of which in Cluj-Napoca.
“The Lamajole store chain is part of the Mendola Investment Group, along with Roseco, Decocenter and Nobila Casa store chain. From a Roseco branch we became a standalone company in 2020, focusing solely on retail with physical and online stores,” the corporate website says.
La Majole has two types of stores depending on the brands sold. La Majole Budget sells medium-priced brands like H&M, Zara, Orsay and Mango, while La Majole Boutique sells premium and luxury international brands like Valentino, Hugo Boss, Max Mara and YSL.
The second-hand fashion stores could become an increasingly powerful actor on the fashion market worldwide and in Romania helped by the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such stores were already in the rise before that, as consumers realized the textile industry was moving faster than ever, manufacturing a lot of products cheaply with a significant environmental impact.
The total apparel and footwear market in Romania is put at some EUR5 billion, with more than 100 apparel and footwear brands operating on it.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)