Second resale clothing store plans to close later this week

By Beau Hayhoe | Originally Published: 01/31/12 8:33pm |Modified: 01/31/12 9:13pm | No comments

This week has marked the last few days of business for two downtown East Lansing secondhand clothing stores.

Scavenger Hunt, 503 E. Grand River Ave., closed down business Jan. 31, and ReThreads, 543 E. Grand River Ave., plans to close down Feb. 4., leaving two vacant spaces among a stretch of stores and restaurants.

Scavenger Hunt owner Eric Merckling said the decision to close down his shop in East Lansing was made as a result of financial troubles he suffered from the closing of another location he opened in Lansing in March 2009.

“We never bounced back from the investment in Lansing,” he said.

Merckling’s Lansing location closed down in early 2010, he said.

Merckling said many customers have enjoyed the store, but MSU students have taken less of an interest in the clothing compared to Ann Arbor residents, where the company’s previous owners operated another resale shop.

“We don’t have quite the liberal student body here” he said.

Merckling said he discussed the decision to close the store with his wife last fall before making the decision in December 2011.

ReThreads store manager Katrina Rhea said the owner of the company, which is based in Wisconsin, decided to close the East Lansing location because the store did not get as much business as they anticipated.

“Unfortunately, not enough people found out about us,” Rhea said.

Rhea said the business will be sad to leave East Lansing.

“We have enjoyed being here for the amount of time we have,” Rhea said. “We’re going to miss being here.”

East Lansing Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey said retail businesses in general have suffered even as the economy continues to improve, leaving some clothing stores without opportunities for business.

“We’re still suffering from the impact of the recession,” he said. “I think that has impacted people’s discretionary income.”

Dempsey said the city still hopes to place other retailers similar to Mad Eagle, 301 M.A.C. Ave., and Pitaya, 213 E. Grand River Ave in the spaces downtown.

Interior design sophomore Kristen Giuffrida said she thinks either the site of ReThreads or Scavenger Hunt in downtown East Lansing could feasibly be replaced by another business.

“A restaurant, I think, would do really well,” she said.

Whitney Covert, a manager at Plato’s Closet, 2843 E. Grand River Ave., another secondhand clothing store, said business at the store has done very well in recent months, despite the struggles of other businesses in the area.

“I think the great thing about our store is we are a chain,” she said. “We are very selective in our clothes here .”