Detoure, a resale marketplace that curates styles from influencers, will open its first permanent brick-and-mortar thrift store April 20 on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue. Over the past three years the site has hosted more than 50 pop-ups across the U.S. that regularly go viral on social media.
“After two years of hosting thrift pop-up shops around SoCal, our events have gained so much popularity on social media,” said Meghan Russell, CEO and Founder of Detoure in comments shared with Retail TouchPoints. “Typically 300 to 500 attendees show up every single time to shop, so the natural next step for us was to turn our model from just hosting pop-up shops, to opening a permanent retail store.”
Launched in 2021, Detoure sources secondhand clothing directly from influencers’ closets as well as excess inventory from brands popular with its Gen Z customer base. The marketplace works with a roster of approximately 200 influencers, who combined have more than 20 million followers, to showcase exclusive closet collections of popular social media personalities such as Cassie Randolph (The Bachelor), Elliana Walmsley (Dance Moms), Helen Owen and Ayeshapi.
Influencers create a “Closet Drop” featuring items they’re ready to sell, and by posting about these sales on their social media platforms regularly bring in new customers. Detoure also has partnered with other resale platforms, like Depop, as well as selling overstock for popular Gen Z brands like Blackbough Swim, Cider, Beginning Boutique and Edikted.
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“I launched Detoure out of my one-bedroom apartment in 2021, with the mission of reducing fashion waste,” said Russell. “We soon outgrew the one bedroom (with my husband going crazy because of all the clothes taking over the living room) and moved into a two-bedroom apartment. Eventually, we moved Detoure into a storage unit [and then] a warehouse. It was time to open a permanent retail store to deepen our community and create a space for our customers to gather.
“We plan to host fun events rooted in sustainability and philanthropy to further engage our community and get them involved in helping the environment and reducing fashion waste,” Russell added. “Eventually, I would love to see Detoure become a nationwide retail chain and online destination. For now, we’ve got our eyes on Orange County next.”
