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Gap to enter resale market

Gap

Gap Inc. announced a partnership with thredUP, the world’s largest fashion resale platform, to encourage customers to turn in secondhand clothes.

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Gap Inc. is the largest clean out participant to date in thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service (RAAS) program, an online platform that partners with retailers to support the circular fashion economy.

“As the resale revolution continues to gain momentum, participating in re-commerce is not only good for our planet, but good for business. Our customers are diversifying their closets, whether with new clothing, rental pieces, or secondhand goods. We are thrilled to partner with thredUP in offering a sustainable and innovative way to shop for the closet of the future,” said Mark Breitbard, President, Gap Inc. Specialty Brands.

According to thredUP’s annual Resale Report, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second, and 56 million women bought secondhand products in 2018 – which is almost half of the entire female adult population in the US.

“thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service platform was built with consumers and retailers in mind. After spending the past decade building the backbone of resale on the internet, we are thrilled to partner with the iconic brands in the Gap Inc. portfolio to deliver a convenient, responsible clean out service to their customers. By working together we can pave the way for a more circular fashion future,” said James Reinhart, Co-Founder and CEO of thredUP.

Gap Inc. is working toward the goal of diverting more than 30 million pounds of material annually from landfills, while innovating to optimize packaging and reduce volume, lowering business costs, and supporting industry wide change. Gap Inc. currently diverts nearly 50% of waste generated from Gap Inc.’s North American facilities.

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In 2019, thredUP upcycled their 100 millionth item, displacing an estimated 870K tons of CO2e — the equivalent of 74K road trips around the world.