What you probably already know: Department stores are losing business to apparel resalers. A Bank of America Analysis, notes that inflation is pushing more consumers into the secondhand market, with higher-income households leading the charge. ThredUp in its 2026 Resale Report, says the global secondhand apparel market is projected to hit $393 billion by 2030, growing at more than twice the rate as the overall apparel market. The market last year increased by 13%. In the U.S. alone, the secondhand apparel market is expected to reach almost $79 billion within four years, or a 7.3% annual growth rate on average.
Why it matters: Jane Pabon doesn’t need any report to tell her that. Pabon launched Jane Pabon Consignment Boutique near Chicago back in 2009. Pabon, a four-decade industry veteran who’s worked for the likes of Marshall Field’s, Sam Zell and Ann Taylor, began with her own clothes — “I had a shopping problem,” she says, laughing — and secondhand items from friends and neighbors. Until recently, she didn’t even have an e-commerce site. Most of her customers are women, and she now serves the children of some of her original clients. Business has been brisk from the beginning, but right now, “we are in a growth spurt,” she says. “Just hang on, you know?”
What it means: ThredUp notes that new, younger shoppers are powering growth, accounting for 64% of spending in the next four years. Millennials and especially Gen Zers combined will drive an eye-popping 71% of that uptick. Resale is also becoming more popular as a “first-choice channel” rather than just a fun, “thrill of the hunt” hobby. “The next chapter is taking shape,” ThredUp CEO and cofounder James Reinhart says. “Growth is increasingly driven not just by new participants, but by share shifts between resale and new, between platforms, and across a fragmented long tail of supply.”
What happens next: That’s certainly the case for Pabon, who says most of her customers choose both resale and new clothes for everyday essential wear. She’s never advertised, relying almost exclusively on word of mouth to drive business. She’s just now delving into AI to see how it can help. “We have so much inventory. It’s in my basement at my home, at the shop and in my garage,” she says, adding that much of her knowledge comes from watching fashion documentaries. “We just try to help women find their style. We just try to educate one person at a time.”
Tomorrow: A Q&A with Jane Pabon on her journey.
