Lululemon is testing a resale program where shoppers can sell and buy used items in its stores

Lululemon is moving into resale.

The leggings and sports activities bra maker introduced Tuesday it is piloting a trade-in program in California and Texas subsequent month, which can then increase to a resale program in June.

Starting in May, Lululemon clients in California and Texas will be capable to commerce in gently used Lululemon items, in a retailer or by mail, in trade for a Lululemon present card.

The following month, these gently used items will begin to be bought to individuals who wish to pay much less and do not thoughts a bit of damage on their tops and bottoms. The firm is calling the pilot “Like New.” Lululemon is partnering with Trove, a enterprise that already helps manufacturers like Levi’s and Patagonia construct out resale marketplaces, to make it occur.

Lululemon says that each one traded-in items will probably be cleaned, and the items that do not meet its high quality requirements will probably be recycled. The retailer says it is going to depend on shoppers’ suggestions in the pilot earlier than it scales it to different states and extra stores.

“Lululemon is actively working to help create a healthier future,” CEO Calvin McDonald mentioned in a assertion.

The enterprise is presently working towards a variety of sustainability goals that it laid out last fall, together with making 100% of its merchandise with sustainable supplies and end-of-use options by 2030, he added.

Lululemon actually is not the primary retailer to experiment with resale. Businesses are feeling a better urge to take action after they see websites like Poshmark and Depop, which sell used items, are flooded with their merchandise.

Last yr, Levi Strauss & Co. debuted a buyback program for its denims known as SecondHand. Nike introduced earlier this month a new initiative to simply accept gently worn sneakers which might be then cleaned and resold in choose stores at a diminished worth.

Retailers from Gap to Macy’s to Nordstrom have dipped their toes into the secondhand market, too, partnering with marketplaces like ThredUp, to encourage clients to ship in used items but additionally to permit them to thrift for themselves.

Thrifting is more and more fashionable with Gen Z, a technology that cares extra in regards to the setting and takes that into consideration when procuring.

Mentions of thrift and consignment stores ranked No. 10 on a checklist of teenagers’ favourite manufacturers this spring, according to Piper Sandler’s biannual report on the generation’s spending. That was up from twenty third a yr earlier, as extra teenagers familiarize themselves with secondhand marketplaces.

According to a separate report from Jefferies, the secondhand market generates practically $30 billion in gross sales yearly in the United States, and it expects the market will develop to symbolize a mid-teens proportion of the full U.S. attire market over the following decade, pushed by on-line resale. Gen Z spenders are already at this stage, the agency mentioned.

“We believe most companies should find some way to participate in resale, either via partnerships or an owned platform, given (1) the growing importance of sustainability to the consumer, [and] (2) its growing importance to investors,” Jefferies analyst Janine Stichter mentioned in a be aware to shoppers.

In tandem with the debut of its resale pilot program, Lululemon may even be releasing a restricted version assortment of merchandise that is made utilizing lower-impact dyes, that are upcycled from the waste of oranges, beets and noticed palmetto bushes. These dyes use much less water, carbon and artificial chemical compounds in contrast with standard artificial dyes, it mentioned.

The distinctive tie-dying course of additionally produces a barely completely different end result every time, so each print in this new assortment will probably be one-of-a-kind, it added. The line, known as Earth Dye, will probably be accessible globally on-line and in choose Lululemon stores on May 11.

Year so far, Lululemon shares are down about 7%, as of Monday’s market shut. The retailer has a market cap of $42 billion.