Online consignment store to add 150 workers at Vernon Hills center
San Francisco-based ThredUp.com is growing its retail concept with plans to more than double its workforce in Vernon Hills.
The online consignment store has been expanding nationwide with new distribution centers to accommodate the marketplace. The company says it has been listing about 350,000 clothing items daily. The distribution center in Vernon Hills, which has about 145 workers, plans to add another 155 workers by the end of this year, said John Voris, chief operating officer at ThredUp.
"Our strategy is to get the country all mapped out so we can reduce our transit time and get orders to customers much faster," Voris said.
James Reinhart, Chris Homer and Oliver Lubin founded the business in Boston in 2009. ThredUp buys gently used women's and children's clothing, and then resells them for up to 90 percent off the original retail brand-name price.
Consumers can put those items in a bag supplied by the company, place it on their front porch for pick up by the post office, and wait for the company to make an offer. ThredUp pays consumers about 10 percent of the retail price of the garments, Voris said.
The typical customer is between the ages of 25 and 44, and are usually mothers, he said.
"We're focusing on making her life easier," Voris said.
The 145,000-square-foot Vernon Hills center opened in late December and it's the third such center for the company. Others are in San Leandro, California, and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. A fourth distribution center is expected to open this summer near Atlanta, Georgia, while another could open later in Texas, he said.
Vernon Hills is enjoying the addition. "The village of Vernon Hills is pleased to welcome the leading online consignment marketplace, ThredUp, to our community," Vernon Hills Mayor Roger Byrne said in a statement. "Sustainability is at the center of the brand's ethos and we welcome the meaningful jobs ThredUp is creating for our devoted and diverse communities throughout Lake County."