Zeeman kicks off second-hand vintage clothing sale

Following companies such as H&M and Urban Outfitters, budget retailer Zeeman is now also experimenting with selling second-hand clothing.

The Dutch clothing company has been offering vintage clothing alongside their regular products for a few weeks now. Shoppers can find blouses, jackets, baby clothes, jeans and even a wedding dress in the section marked ‘resale’.

The Zeeman in Amsterdam-Osdorp was the first location to start selling vintage clothing as an experiment in collaboration with thrift store chain Het Goed, which has over 28 branches in the Netherlands. Het Goed collects second-hand garments from clothing containers, and also recently-established donation points at Zeeman.

Due to the success of the trial, other locations in The Hague, Maastricht, Nijmegen and Nieuwegein picked up on the idea.

According to a store clerk in Osdorp, vintage clothing has been popular among shoppers. “Sometimes there are really nice things in between. For good prices”, she said to the Volkskrant. The store clerks themselves also buy from the ‘resale’ section. The staff gets first pick on clothing that is donated to the store.

Among clothing from affordable brands such as Vero Moda, Primark or H&M there are also items from more expensive brands, such as McGregor. “Sometimes you can even find a designer piece, that’s cool”, the director of Het Goed, Elles Kempers, said.

The sustainability and quality manager at Zeeman, Arnoud van Vliet, said he is not worried that the addition of vintage clothing in the store’s offer will interfere with the sale of the new collection. “They don’t cross. Customers mainly come to Zeeman for basics. Black socks, a white T-shirt. A large part of our offer remains the same but with the added uniqueness of the vintage clothing”, Van Vliet said.

In the past year, there has been an increase in the sale of vintage clothing. In 2020, vintage clothing sales increased by seven percent, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Major clothing companies have caught on to the trend. H&M, for example, set up a platform called Sellpy where people can sell used H&M clothing. The online store Zalando has also launched a new section marked ‘pre-owned’.