Second Editions in Bala Cynwyd might look like any other boutique, but it's that bargain-hunter's paradise, an upscale resale store. Consignment shop, if you prefer. Berman's kind of place.
Where else can you shop your heart out and still brag about being socially responsible?
From teens looking for authentic oldies' gear in the bins of the Salvation Army thrift store in Roxborough to fashionable matrons rifling through the racks of not-quite-new designer duds in consignment stores along the Main Line, buying clothes that used to be somebody else's is no longer just trendy. It's closing in on mainstream.
Some people have been doing this for decades, of course.
``Second-hand has always been a huge, viable, underground business,'' be it thrifts for charity or resale for profit, says Berman, who has written on the topic for years. ``It's been there since retail's been there. But it was hidden. People didn't talk about it. The single biggest change is that we're out there in your face more.''
And that has meant an influx of shoppers and stores. Over the last few years it has become so visible that Berman estimates there are 800 to 900 shops selling second-hand just in the Philadelphia-South Jersey area, with about two-thirds of those dealing in clothing.
Competition has become so brisk and shoppers so price-conscious that even Salvation Army stores have had to cut their prices.
There are stores that specialize in pregnancy clothes, children's clothes, large sizes, designer goods, and clothes just for men or for businesswomen. Some zero in on the special-occasion and bridal markets.
