Worn Men's Consignment Shop Expands to Mount Pleasant

Update (April 2, 2013): This week Worn's Mount Pleasant location is holding a sidewalk sale. Inside, the store has a full stock of spring and summer seersucker men's coats and suits for the trademark Charleston look.

Original story: There are a handful of businesses that thrive even in a sour economy.

Brannen Dougherty is the lucky small business owner surely included in that group. He opened , in 2010 in West Ashley.

That was in the middle of the Great Recession, but now that the economy shows signs of recovery, Dougherty is betting his business model can prosper even in good economic times.

"Consignment shops are really recession proof," Dougherty said. "In bad times, people shop at consignment shops. In good times, they shop here and everywhere else, too."

Worn specializes in like-new, pre-owned men's clothing from high-end designers. Items sell for 50 to 75 percent below retail. The clothes are offered on 90 day consignment agreements in which the owners get 40 percent of the final sale price.

"It's really a great place for label snobs," Dougherty said. "If you want a pair of Gucci shoes, you can find them here for a steal, and they may have been worn only 10 times."

The store also sells more affordable brands, such as Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic, Dougherty said. Items in the shop sell for as little as $20 and up to $1,000 for rare, one-of-a-kind pieces.

So far, business has been brisk.

"When I opened my first store, I lived in Mount Pleasant, and I really wanted a store here," Dougherty said. "I assumed, and I was right, that shoppers in Mount Pleasant don't go to West Ashley; it's just too far, even though it's only 10 minutes away."

Dougherty's new location fills a space previously occupied by Victoria's, a women's consignment shop. The two businesses aren't affiliated.

"This shop is in a great location, and it's three times the size of our West Ashley shop," he said.

Though plenty of old customers and folks who had heard about Worn's West Ashley shop are appreciating the new location, the move has opened the doors to a larger customer base unfamiliar with Worn or consignment shops in general.

"It's not a thrift shop," Dougherty said. "Every piece of clothing here has been hand-picked, and it's all laundered and pressed before we hang it up. It doesn't smell like a consignment shop, and that's something I'm proud of."

Worn is also catering to an audience different from that of already existing consignment shops.

"Some of the other stores go after a younger crowd, or maybe they just have one or two racks of men's clothing," Dougherty said. "This is really an untapped market and that's what makes it such a success."