With an elegant new gray and white space dedicated to fine jewelry brands Marco Bicego, Roberto Coin, Lagos and David Yurman, Bloomingdale’s White Plains is upping the quiet luxury ante that is part of parent company Macy’s “Bold New Chapter,” along with retail’s efforts to reinvent itself in response to the digital revolution.
We’ll have more on Bloomingdale’s plans in an upcoming edition of the Westfair Business Journal. In the meantime, the journal had an impromptu interview with Charles Gorra, founder and CEO of Rebag (typically spelt with capital letters), which offers pre-owned luxury handbags and other accessories – including fine jewelry, watches and small leather goods – online and in 10 mall and Bloomingdale’s locations in New York, New Jersey, Florida and California.
Rebag’s website features tens of thousands of items representing 100 brands, Gorra said, including Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. At Rebag x Bloomingdale’s in White Plains, you won’t find those three brands specifically as they have dedicated spaces in Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship in Manhattan. But you will find Bulgari, Goyard, Harry Winston, Hermès, Rolex and Van Cleef & Arpels, to name a few.
Given the number of luxury products on the market, Gorra said that consumers today are interested in value – for their wallets as well as for the environment. Should you decide to sell, trade or consign with Rebag, your item is authenticated and cleaned before it is listed or appears in a Rebag location. Selling guarantees you immediate cash. Consignment, which takes longer, may net you more – but then again, he added, maybe not.
With a master’s degree in finance earned at HEC Paris as this still-young century unfolded, Gorra worked as a financial analyst at Schneider Electric China in Shanghai, a mergers and acquisitions analyst with Goldman Sachs in Paris and London and a private equity associate with TPG Capital. But it was while he was earning an MBA at Harvard Business School in 2012 through ’14 that he met the Jennifers behind Rent the Runway – founders Jennifer Fleiss and Jennifer Hyman – and became hooked on the idea of sustainable, pre-owned luxury.
Gorra worked in business development at Rent the Runway in the New York metro area in the summer of 2013. In November of the following year, he launched Rebag.
He said he’s delighted with Bloomingdale’s and in particular has enjoyed working with Lorri Baldwin, general manager of Bloomingdale’s White Plains.
“This is a major moment for the resale industry,” he writes on his LinkedIn page of Rebag x Bloomingdale’s, “for the first time a truly integrated buy/sell experience for luxury resale.”
