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Dive Brief:
- New Balance on Monday announced the launch of a resale program on its website, according to a press release sent to Fashion Dive.
- The program, called Reconsidered, will allow consumers to shop for pre-owned shoes, consumer returns and “cosmetically imperfect footwear that cannot be sold as new,” but have been “cleaned as needed,” per the release.
- The company is marketing the Reconsidered program as part of its sustainability commitments, which include focusing on the longevity and circularity of products. Last year, New Balance was among brands that helped launch the Footwear Collective, an advocacy group meant to promote a circular footwear economy.
Dive Insight:
The Reconsidered platform includes an option to trade in merchandise, where consumers can send their used shoes to stores or by mail to receive a voucher for the New Balance e-commerce site.
Reconsidered is supported by Archive, a branded resale platform. Other companies that have partnered with Archive on such efforts include Maje and Ulla Johnson.
New Balance also partnered with circular textile company Tersus Solutions on product cleaning, fulfillment and warehousing, per the release. Tersus, which uses waterless cleaning technology to wash used products, has also worked with Ralph Lauren, Eileen Fisher and Canada Goose, according to its website.
“We know the footwear industry has a significant environmental impact, including too many products ending up in a landfill,” John Stokes, director of sustainability at New Balance, said in the release. “There are many things that have to shift. Launching Reconsidered is one piece of the puzzle with a program objective to help extend product life for some of our product and get the most from what is already made.”
As part of its larger sustainability initiative, New Balance also aims to run owned operations on renewable energy by 2025. Other goals include sourcing lower-impact materials and transitioning to lower carbon transportation.
New Balance sneakers are popular items on resale platform StockX, according to several of its recent trend reports. By bringing resale efforts in-house, New Balance could create increased competition for StockX, which recently announced it was restructuring its business and laying off dozens of corporate employees, according to a report from Modern Retail.
Other footwear brands that have recently launched their own resale platforms include Brooks Running and On.
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Laurel Deppen, Khareem Sudlow
