Japanese used-clothing retailers are looking at enhancing exports in Southeast Asia. These retailers purchase unneeded clothes from consumers and resell them at their stores — which used to be mainly in Japan. Today they have seen that Southeast Asian markets are eagerly waiting to lap up used clothing. The Japan discards/burns around 1 million tonnes of clothes annually, however, by ensuring new markets, the efforts to encourage reuse of what would eventually be thrown away helps reduce environment pollution.
Don Don Up, a second-hand clothing store chain located in the Iwate Prefecture in Northern Japan, launched its Dondondown on Wednesday store in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh in 2014. It now operates 12 stores in Cambodia aiming to increase it to around 50 by 2021. The retailer also plans to expand its footprint into Thailand, Vietnam and other countries in the region.
Don Don Up’s President Akifumi Okamoto says most people in Cambodia, even those who are strapped for cash, have smartphones, they now have access to sufficient information and have become conscious about what they wear and how they wear it. International fast-fashion brands are hardly seen in the country. This is another reason for the Japanese retailer to expand its footprint in this market where there is a rising demand for used clothing.
The retailer's policy is to ‘buy anything, other than underwear.’ At its 51 stores across Japan, the retailer never refuses to buy clothes brought in by consumers, even those other second-hand retailers would not accept, such as heavily damaged or stained items, as well as clothing with personal names marked on them. For ordinary clothing, Don Don Up pays up to 500 yen ($4.42) per kilogram. Branded clothing are priced separately. The retailer picks what it wants to resell in Japan. The rest are sent to its overseas outlets. Some of them are remade into different items. Don Don Up exported 2,865 tons of used clothing in the year through September. Treasure Factory, another second-hand retail clothing shop in Japan, now sells such used items in Thailand. In a smart move, the retailer's Thai outlet buys second-hand clothes locally and resells them to consumers there.
