Clothes Mentor – Short Pump
For the past few months, I’ve been hearing things off and on about a new place called Clothes Mentor that sells 2nd hand clothes. But with comparisons to an “upscale Plato’s Closet,” I’ve been less than enthused to try it out. Having an appointment one day in the West End, I decided, what the heck, and stopped in. As a 2nd hand proponent, it’s my sworn duty to scout out all new locations so I chalked it up to research. Imagine my surprise when I discovered how clean, neat and good smelling the store was. There was no obnoxious music blaring, no oddly dressed teenagers, and even a special spot for all those designer items.
Burberry, Louis Vuitton
The majority of the designer items are priced in typical consignment fashion, approximately 1/3rd off the retail price. However, the sales associate also let me know that they try to price pieces at market value and will often see what pieces are going for on eBay, especially if the piece was a popular one. While you may think I’m over exaggerating about the overall store vibe, one of the first things I jotted down in my iPhone note app was, “smells nice.” This is huge for a store! It made me want to linger and linger I did, walking up and down each aisle, revisiting some aisles, and checking out their stash of shoes and blogger envy jeans.
Joe’s Jeans, Rock and Republic Heels, Tahari Pumps
In the middle of my wanderings, I stumbled across a few higher end brands such as these Tahari heels, but also a lot of other mid-level brands such as J. Crew, Cache, Steve Madden, Free People, Silence and Noise, Ralph Lauren and Ann Taylor. There was a special section dedicated to women’s suits, which could prove fruitful for anyone looking for those items. In addition to just having space to wander and oggle the clothes, I found out that Clothes Mentor has a text club you can join for special member’s only deals plus a coupon to use on your first purchase. You can also check out their Facebook page for weekly gift card raffles. On the whole, Clothes Mentor is now on my radar and will be one of those stores I stop in while I’m in the area for a quick peek around. However, with frequent shopping, it looks to be a great place to score designer items, quality brand jeans, and the occasional fun shoe.
Have you ever been put off a store by loud music or obnoxious smells?
There was a clothes mentor back home in Ohio that I would go to anytime I wanted new work clothes! I’m going to have to check this one out here
I had never heard of them, that’s cool that you had one there! I do think they are a good place for staple work pieces, not so sure about others, but it’s on my radar now!