Second-hand store in Bilbao: From the web to the street: this is the new Micolet ephemeral store in Bilbao
The Biscayan firm has installed a ‘pop-up’ in the central square of the Zubiarte shopping center in which they offer a selection of more than 500 second-hand garments with an 80% discount
The pre-lived clothing business through a golden age. Today, thousands of people have decided to become activists for the planet. Their mentality and way of consuming fashion has completely changed: they have moved away from buying ‘fast fashion’ to give a second chance to clothes that had been collecting dust for a long time in the closet of anonymous people. Practice in which many of us found a gold mine in the market years ago. They started setting up their own second-hand clothing stall at sporadic flea markets, but over time, things have changed. Today, the horrible of these transactions moves at the click of a button. Despite this, there are still online businesses that are betting again on a physical space. This is the case of Micolet, the Biscayan firm that sells second-hand clothing online in exchange for a commission, which has just set up a pop-up store in Bilbao to continue bringing circular fashion closer to citizens.
Specifically, from July 1st to the 30th of this month, we will be able to purchase a selection of more than 500 second-hand garments in the central square of the Zubiarte shopping center. Pieces with previous life that will be available to buy ‘in situ’ with discounts of up to 80% with respect to their original value and that will be renewed every day. “It is a perfect occasion for all those people who are looking to renew their wardrobe at an affordable price,” they say from the firm.
But in this ‘pop-up’, in addition to buying clothes in good condition, visitors can also give the firm clothes they don’t use and want to sell. «It was one of the most repeated requests in a pop-up store that we opened a couple of years ago. We decided to listen to our customers and add this option.” Pieces that will later be put up for sale on the Biscayan firm’s website. In exchange, Micolet delivers, in addition to the profits from the sale of the clothes on the platform, a 5-euro bonus to redeem in the pop-up store. The only requirement is the delivery of a minimum of 15 clean garments in good condition.
It’s not the first time
It is not the first time that the Biscayan firm has opened the doors of an ephemeral store in Bilbao. Specifically, they were installed in February 2020 on García Rivero street, located in the heart of the town. A first ‘pop-up’ that achieved unprecedented success during the first days. “The opening attracted more than 200 people,” they remember. However, the pandemic caused by Covid-19 completely stopped this initiative. In this way, his idea of lifting the blinds of other physical stores was temporarily completely set aside, until this month of July.
Since they opened this ‘pop-up’, the firm ensures that the reception has exceeded their expectations. “We have had resounding success. The first day we didn’t know what to expect, but almost all the clothes were sold. We had to replace immediately, “they indicate. An achievement that opens the door for them to install other ephemeral stores in the future in Bizkaia: «This has only been a pilot test. Yes, we would like to continue opening different pop-up second-hand shops.”
More about Micolet
Micolet’s story began when José María del Moral’s partner, one of the partners, faced a great dilemma when looking at his closet full of clothes. A fashion influencer, the girl wanted to sell it on a website, but she had neither the time nor the desire to take photos of each garment, write a file with the characteristics, deal with each client… «José María accompanied her to a market to dispose of of the clothes, they had to put everything in the car and they sold four things, so he promised that he would not do it again, that he preferred to set up a website to sell the clothes. We decided to try our luck and annoy our sisters, friends, girlfriends, mothers… until we gathered 800 pieces, we didn’t reach the 1,000 that we had proposed, but we took the risk of launching Micolet”, recalls Aritza Loroño, the other founding member of the company. This is how this website for buying and selling second-hand women’s clothing was born in 2015 in Erandio, which today employs 50 people and has a stock of 180,000 garments.