June 23, 2012
Hipster Fashion Retailer Buffalo Exchange Opens First D.C. Shop
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 2 MIN.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Called "a favorite of hipsters" by the Washington Post and "the cream of the crop of vintage stores" by NBC Washington, Buffalo Exchange brings the original concept of buy-sell-trade clothing to 14th Street Northwest with the opening of its first store in Washington, located off Logan Circle.
Buffalo Exchange will be near other independent businesses and locally-owned shops and restaurants in the neighborhood. The newly restored historic building will feature an interior with high ceilings, rustic looking flooring, preserved original brick walls and vintage display items scattered throughout.
The store will offer 10 roomy, well-lit dressing rooms for women and men -- plus two buy counters, where customers can sell their clothes for cash or trade. Retail brokerage and development firm Streetsense secured the space. "It's an area with a lot of businesses that are similar to ours - there's a used furniture store, another consignment shop," says Kerstin Block, president of Buffalo Exchange.
Besides the new D.C. store, Buffalo Exchange is well-represented in the Northeast, with four stores in New York City, one in Philadelphia and two in Boston. Buffalo Exchange was named Best Used Clothing Store by The Village Voice in the Best of NYC 2011: "We just can't tear ourselves away from Buffalo Exchange... their outposts in the East Village, Williamsburg, and Chelsea are transformative experiences." Buffalo Exchange has been recently featured on the Nate Berkus Show, TODAY Show, Good Morning America, CNN, NYLON and Seventeen.
Buffalo Exchange is a sustainable company that works to protect the environment by reusing and recycling clothing. The store donates to local charities in the community through its Tokens for Bags� program, which has generated over $420,000 for hundreds of local nonprofit organizations since 1994, saving 8.4 million bags.
Shoppers are encouraged to accept a token instead of a bag for purchases, and Buffalo Exchange donates five cents to a charity of the customer's choice. Buffalo Exchange is unique because clothing and accessories are bought, sold and traded locally with store customers. Used clothes can be traded for any item in the store, including jewelry and brand new clothing.
The ever-changing inventory includes designer wear, basics, vintage, jeans and one-of-a-kind items. Including the new D.C. shop, the family-owned resale clothing business has 43 stores and 3 franchises in 16 states as of June 2012, with $72.9 million a year in revenue in 2011. Based in Tucson, Buffalo Exchange is an independent and privately held company and the founders manage the day-to-day business.
The new D.C. shop is between N Street and Rhode Island Avenue, convenient to the McPherson Square stop on the Metro. Store hours will be Monday-Saturday 11-7 and Sunday 12-6. Metered street parking nearby.
For more, visit www.buffaloexchange.com
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
