Calgary consignment stores flooded with designer clothes as economy slumps

Calgary’s economy might be in a downward slump, but that means big business for local consignment stores.

CBC news said SalvEdge Boutique on 8th Street SW is stacked with more designer brands like Gucci and Chanel than they’ve ever had – and that even includes heirlooms.

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“Not that we want to capitalize on a bad situation,” store manager Jessica Carruthers told CBC.

“We’re just seeing amazing things, people cleaning out their closets, and realizing that those things can actually make them some money.”

Other shop owners are less optimistic about people’s reasons for hawking their designer goods.

“I think people are getting kind of desperate,” manager of Trends Fashions Heather McQueen told CBC.

“They’re just going through their clothes and being like ‘Maybe I can make some money off of this.”

A Vintage Affair on 11 Avenue SW said they’ve also received an influx of rare costume jewellery from the 1950s.

A new poll from CIBC suggests Albertans are the least confident about their finances they’ve ever been. Only 62 per cent of people in the province are confident about their financial statuses, down 21 per cent since last year.