InsideOutdoor | WINTER 2023 14 With a widespread inventory glut and wobbly consumer demand, some headwinds are emerging for the traditional specialty outdoor market in early 2023. Yet despite that darkness on the horizon, there is an underreported bright spot – the steady drumbeat of growth in used outdoor gear and apparel, which is the tip of the spear for a global secondhand marketplace estimated to be more than $119 billion in 2022 and predicted to double in size within the next five years, according to a report on ThreadUp.com. For consumers, rising interest in sustainable retail is more than an urge for thriftiness: it’s a response to well-publicized impacts of the retail industry. According to a February 2022 article in Bloomberg, more than 85 percent of apparel ends up being discarded within a year. Meanwhile, new apparel and footwear sales make up for 8 percent of climate impact worldwide, which is a bigger carbon footprint than airline flights and shipping trips combined. And among retailers, a growing number of independent specialty stores are committed to used gear and apparel because they have realized that “re-commerce” isn’t just about finding a home for old products – it’s about creating new customers and an affordable new entry point into the outdoor world. “Traditional retail is being challenged because it’s doing business the same way it always has,” said Aaron Provine, president of Geartrade, a national online marketplace for used gear and apparel. “But the ‘UnNew’ marketplace is rising in prominence because it’s directly responding to what consumers want. This embrace of secondhand market is a huge evolution for the outdoor industry, as it’s the key to what sustainable retail is going to look like.” At Trail Head, an independent specialty retail storefront founded in 1974 in Missoula, Mont., owner Todd Frank launched a consignment section of his brick-and-mortar location in November 2020. He credits the idea to his college-aged daughter who had seen the rising popularity of used gear and apparel among her Independent Retailers Ride the Wave of Second-hand Outdoor Boom
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