Resale clothing store and OSU will see if students are game to make it a success

A resale clothing chain that has built its business by catering to the college crowd is coming to Corvallis, and its newest store will bring it closer to its customers than ever before.

The Buffalo Exchange — which has 30 locations in 11 states, including four in Oregon — plans to open a store next month in the Memorial Union at Oregon State University. While most of its stores are located near college campuses, this will be the first that’s actually on one.

Headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., the Buffalo Exchange buys, sells and trades used brand-name clothing. Most stores also carry some new items, although the OSU location will not.

The store is viewed as an experiment by both Buffalo Exchange and the MU, with a short-term lease that runs through 2007.

“It’s our first time doing this,” said Michelle Livingston, the company’s

marketing director. “A lot of our stores are located right near campus, but this is definitely a first for us.”

The idea came from Martha Varela, an OSU graduate student who had shopped the Buffalo Exchange elsewhere. She approached Memorial Union director Michael Henthorne as well as Buffalo Exchange executives. Varela even sent the company some chocolates.

“I felt so pampered,” Livingston laughed.

At just 800 square feet, the OSU location will be much smaller than most Buffalo Exchange stores, which tend to be at least 2,000 square feet, said Kerstin Block, the co-founder and president of the $40 million company. But with ready access to students, the company’s core customer base, she thinks it could be successful.

If so, Block said, the OSU store could become the prototype for other on-campus locations as student unions around the country increasingly privatize their operations.

“I think this store could really work for us,” she said.

Henthorne said the Buffalo Exchange should be a good fit for the Memorial Union.

Some video games have been cleared out of one corner of the basement recreation center, and the space is being remodeled for the store now. It’s set to open Feb. 20, after Buffalo Exchange employees complete the buildout and stock the shelves.

“Students invest a lot of money in clothing,” Henthorne said. “Here’s a way for students to wear recycled clothing and get money back out of their investments.”

While he acknowledged that some off-campus retailers might object to the university’s decision to lease space to a rival, Henthorne noted that the MU already houses the OSU Bookstore — a private business that sells apparel, CDs and mainstream reading material as well as textbooks.

Nancy Kneisel, owner of the Second Glance resale shop on Southwest Third Avenue, agreed.

After more than two decades in business, she said, she’s not overly concerned about the competition. For one thing, Buffalo Exchange tends to target a younger clientele, and it doesn’t take consignments, as she does.

“I’ve always found that people who shop resale, they shop all over,” Kneisel said. “I’d love to be the only game in town, but that’s not the way it’s been for 22 years. I’ve seen businesses come and go, and I’m still around.”

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