Wren House in Chagrin Falls is resale shop for high-end fashions

Tag : Women Tunic

Many a customer has walked into the Wren House in Chagrin Falls,figuring it was just another women's clothing boutique in a towncrowded with them.
It's a testament to owner Betsy Wince's selection and displayskills that it takes awhile for people to realize they're in aconsignment store.
Only the surprisingly low prices on the labels - from Missoni andAkris to Catherine Malandrino and Michael Kors - offer a clue.
An unused Prada tote? It's $499 instead of $1,290. A Temperleytunic? Priced at $140 instead of the original $1,200. Fans ofpopular high-end, direct-sale labels like Carlisle and Doncasterwill also find a large selection here.
The Wren House, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary nextyear, has been a popular place for women in the Chagrin Falls areato shop and consign their mostly high-end clothes and accessories.The pro shops at area country clubs also sell their end-of-seasonmerchandise here, at 50 percent to 80 percent off the originalretail price.
The business began at 9 River St. (now the home of Dave's CosmicSubs) in a building that looked a bit like a birdhouse - which ishow the shop got its name. In the late 1980s, it moved to itspresent location on South Franklin Street, a space three timeslarger than the old one.
The Wren House was started by Gertrude Young and Charlene Meyer,two women who liked the concept of recycling clothing, even in1949, when that was fairly unheard of.
Wince says she was told that at first customers tended to come fromoutside Chagrin Falls, as ladies in town didn't want to be seenwearing something that might have belonged to someone they knew.
"Back then, some people said, 'Who is going to wear someone else'sclothes?' " says Wince.
Now, of course, recycling fashions is not only environmentallycorrect, it's hip. After all, matching high end with low can bedone more and better when you're not paying too much for the highend.
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