Checking out Clothes Mentor
I went hunting for some bargains recently at the Clothes Mentor in Schenectady. It's a franchise resale store* where you can shop for second-hand clothes or (attempt to) sell some of your own.
I was motivated to go after Jessica R asked the AOA crowd about where's the best place to sell professional clothes. Clothes Mentor was suggested by many.
The Schenectady store (there is also one in Albany) is nestled between a Plato's Closet and a Tuesday Morning. They're all a part of Crosstown Plaza -- a shopping center that also has an Ocean State Job Lot, PriceRite and a Discount Home Center. It's like price-saving row.
So, is Clothes Mentor worth a stop?
Yup.
The highest price that I saw for a piece of clothing there was $20.00, for a Talbot's linen coat. $10.00 - $12.00 was more the average for a single piece.
Another tell-tale sign that you're getting a bargain: when you find the original price tag. A Banana Republic handbag, with a retail tag price of $69.99, was being sold for $18.00.
The racks were filled and well organized. Many tops were hung by color and then organized by size. Pants were done in slightly the same way, though jeans had an entire section of their own.
There was a handbag section, a maternity section, and shoes were displayed above many of the clothing racks.
When it came to work clothes, the selection was decent. They lacked full suits, but had probably a hundred blazers (from paisley to plaid to plain). Dress shoes seemed to be the only shoes they carried (some flats, but mostly pumps).
Strangely, they had a lot of capri pants. I know it's typical for stores to start carrying spring clothes around this time, but really -- there was an aisle full of capri pants, even while there's a SnOMG going on outside.
I had to dig a bit to find brands that I'm familiar with: Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Simply Vera, Talbot's and J.Crew were a few that I discovered. But that's part of the fun of resale shopping: a part of you feels like a kid digging around in the dress up box.
I spent about an hour at the store and ended up trying on five pieces: one coat, two blazers, and two dresses. The coat wasn't right and neither were the blazers, but I was pretty happy with the dresses. One was certainly work appropriate (from New York & Company for $12.00), the other was a casual cotton dress (from Old Navy for $10.00) -- better suited for spring weekend.
I was impressed by the selection of sizes. In no way is Clothes Mentor a store for just the petite, or just plus size: they carry size 0 to size 26.
A few out-of-the-ordinary pieces that I saw include: a pair of Cache brand grey leather pants and a pair of "red hat society" themed flats.
I chatted with the friendly Clothes Mentor employee about the types of clothes they are looking for right now. She said they currently have a lot of winter clothing, so they're looking for spring clothes. That doesn't mean, however, that if someone comes in with some really great winter stuff they'll turn it away.
Overall, it was a good experience: you could save some money and feel good about "reusing," though I think I'll spend some time digging around my closet before my next visit.
*Resale is different than consignment because you get paid immediately for items the store accepts. You usually wait until your item sells traditional consignment stores.
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Clothes Mentor
2330 Watt St, Crosstown Plaza Rt 7
Schenectady, NY 12304
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Comments
I did end up going here to sell some clothes. If I had extra time, I would have stayed and shopped. It definitely looked like they had a lot of choice, and also definitely targeted higher end brands.
My experience selling the clothes was less than great. She told me right off the bat that they would buy the clothes at 1/3 of the price they planned to sell them. As you said, most prices are between 10 and 12 dollars. They also seemed to use a very strict system. Rather than having the attendant look at each item, determine it's quality, how much it was in line with current trends, and basically anything else that would cause it to sell quicker or at a higher price than something next to it, they only input the type of item (pant, shoe, etc) and the brand, and then tell you the price they will sell it at. This means that every pair of pants from J Crew will be sold for the same price. I brought in a pair of shoes that had an original price of $200, and she offered me $6 for them... because that's what the computer told her to do. It was pretty much a waste of my time... I would have made a lot more money selling the items on eBay, and if I didn't have the time for that, I still would have made more money by taking the clothes to Goodwill and then claiming their value on my tax return.
... said Jessica R on Feb 3, 2011 at 5:58 PM | link
I also had a bad but very different experience trying to sell my clothes to the one on Central Ave (haven't tried the Crosstown Plaza one). I had lost weight and had two beautiful plus sized coats - a soft brown leather swing coat and a big warm faux suede coat, and a pair of black leather boots with stretch in the calves, all three in mint condition, barely worn and totaling well over $350. The young employee spread them out on the counter and looked over each item very carefully, checking seams, bottoms of boots, etc... I told her that I'd had SO many compliments on the coats when I wore them, especially the A-line coat - quite flattering on a larger woman. And finding boots for plus sized calves is pretty near impossible so I was sure they would sell, etc etc. She told me that none of my items were "in the styles they purchased" and she'd have to refuse them - but if I wanted to leave them there, they'd be happy to donate them to the city mission. I was dumbfounded - is THAT how they get their clothes to sell? It really made me wonder! I told her no thanks and did go to Good Will with them, like Jessica R, figuring I'd get their value on the taxes if nothing else.
I do think Clothes Mentor has some great bargains but that scene left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm surprised now to hear how differently they processed what I brought in, than Jessica...
... said E on Feb 3, 2011 at 6:49 PM | link
I've been here several times, as both a buyer and seller, and have done well each time. Especially worthy of note: they have maternity clothes, too! Wish they'd been around when I was pregnant, since the maternity shopping locally is pretty slim pickings.
... said Ellen on Feb 3, 2011 at 8:26 PM | link
I sold some clothes there once. I was really surprised at what they chose to take and what they chose to leave. They didn't want to buy the Dolce and Gabbana suede skirt, the Banana republic items, Guess jeans, J. Crew italian leather boots, or the Ann Taylor items. They bought a pair of goofy looking, fake leather sandals I picked up on clearance from Sears, and a skirt I got from Target 10 years ago and subsequently had altered.
I didn't go in with high expectations, but I guess I'd rather do a clothing swap with friends. It was a lot of work for a small pay-out.
... said Kerosena on Feb 4, 2011 at 9:30 AM | link
I was really curious about the selling experience. Thank you for sharing yours (and Jessica, E and Ellen).
On their Facebook page someone suggested having a donation bin in the store for clothes that Clothes Mentor doesn't take; I'm not sure if that would work (I don't think I'd donate at D&G shirt for instance) but I might be worth a try.
... said Liz on Feb 4, 2011 at 9:40 AM | link
I suggest Salvation Army on Central Ave in Colonie for great second hand clothes. I stopped in two weeks ago to get two sweaters for a craft project--which I found. I also found an American Eagle sweater for my almost-teenage-son, a Gap sweater for my teenage daughter and several amazing cashmere sweaters that look like they were never worn. I also got an Irish handknit cabled cardigan for myself. Yes, there is junk but the high end merchandise was everywhere.
... said Jennifer on Feb 4, 2011 at 10:16 AM | link
I bought alot of maternity clothes from the one on Central Ave - jeans for $8.! However, selling to them is a joke.....I would recommend buying from them, never selling to them.
... said cw on Feb 4, 2011 at 11:14 AM | link
I shop at Clothes Mentor often. Today I hauled 2 very large suitcases of clothes there to sell. I have had a Gastric Bypass and go through clothing quickly. Before my surgery I shopped mostly at Avenue. I've bought alot of Avenue clothing at this store, as well as other clothes that were a 2x and even 3x.
I was told that the store policy was nothing larger than a 26/28. After returning home with this ton of clothing, I found 3 size 18 blouses and a pair of size 18 jeans that I had purchased from Clothes Mentor.
The store manager and the store policy left me feeling, not so good.
Will I go back? I'm not sure.
... said Barb on Jun 8, 2011 at 9:28 PM | link