Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma said that its new Ruby Says Recycle forced it to adopt a new business model.
Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma said that its new Ruby Says Recycle forced it to adopt a new business model.
Popular New Zealand clothing brand Ruby has entered into the growing and competitive recycled clothing market with a standalone store, a move its general manager hopes will lead to a continued thrifting expansion.
During Covid the brand saw a desire within its community for recycled pieces from previous fashion seasons,and after the success of an online version through its Instagram page, specific areas were set up in its stores to accommodate the offshoot.
But following a pop-up standalone store in the former Smith + Caughey’s Newmarket site over the summer, Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma knew that there was an opportunity to take the next step.
“The Ruby Says Recycle process has been something which has been iterative, and that’s been necessary because it is truly a new business model for us as a business,” Miller-Sharma said.
“We left that site in March and we knew that we had enough confidence in the demand from our customers to buy back our second-hand or third-hand pieces, so then we set about looking for a permanent retail space.”
Now, a few weeks after opening its inaugural Ruby Says Recycle store in Newmarket, Miller-Sharma thinks the process of collecting clothing from their customers has been the biggest challenge.
A lot of energy has been focused on training team members in its retail stores and in its marketing department to shift its customers’ habits.
Miller-Sharma likened the process to how supermarkets have switched rhetoric to ensure customers bring their own reusable bags. Ruby wants customers to bring in old pieces any time they shop with them.
Ruby Says Recycle is a new offering from Kiwi fashion brand Ruby, where Kiwis can trade in and buy pre-loved pieces from the brand like never before.
“Over the past maybe five to seven years, I’ve been fixated on finding ways that as a company we can generate revenue and profitability through things that are not the sale of new clothing and that comes from a point of view of we can’t continue to extract the resources that we’re extracting forever out to infinity.
“The easiest way that I could explain it to my dad and some of our board members was like the used car lot, and then they were like, ‘Oh yeah now I understand the concept.’”
She thinks part of the reason the concept has been able to succeed is in the quality of its products, noting that some customers have brought in pieces from as far back as 2009 in fantastic condition.
One aspect Miller-Sharma hopes to challenge with the venture is the nature of thrift stores across the country, describing them as “essentially unpaid labour for fast fashion”.
“They can’t resell them because they’re essentially rubbish. A lot of what is donated is going to landfill.
“The cost is on the thrift store then to dispose of it.”
Part of keeping the business model sustainable is the buyback process, where customers are only offered between 20% and 40% of what Ruby believes they can sell it for.
Miller-Sharma explained the processing time and cost is the same regardless of the retail price of the piece, meaning the customer can either accept the offer or reject it.
Clothing that is rejected can either be sent back to the store/customer where it came from, or, if elected, it can be donated to charity.
To ensure the model can be accountable to the business’s outcomes, its profit and losses will be tracked in the financial year.
“It’s not being run as a separate business, but we’re really trying to make sure that the costs attributed to this are properly recognised because it is something that could easily have hidden staffing costs in terms of processing time.”
In an ambitious goal, Miller-Sharma wants 25% of Ruby’s revenue to come from non-new clothing by 2030, touting the success of its launch as the belief behind the target.
As for customers with pieces hanging in their closets waiting to get their second life, Miller-Sharma has one simple message: “Give it a second chance.”
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
