“In this day and age, everybody’s kind of watching their money,” Darlene Vollhardt said.

She loves to shop, so she found a way to do so without feeling guilty. “I have a dress that I’m going to try on,” Vollhardt said. “It’s [originally] $168, I believe it’s for $14, brand new with the tags.” Clothes Mentor, of Chandler, buys and sells gently worn clothes, shoes and handbags that aren’t more than a few seasons old. To make sure Vollhardt doesn’t break the bank, she sells there too. “I started a little envelope with whatever I sell, I keep it in an envelope and that’s my spending here,” Vollhardt said. “I’ve brought in maybe just a white laundry basket of clothes, nothing major in my mind, and left with $130,” said Rachel Roy, who supplements her family’s income by selling either her own clothes or deals she finds online to Clothes Mentor. “I do have five kids and so a lot goes back to them,” Roy said. “We have clothes that start at $1.50 and go up to, I think our most expensive item is $35 for a Kate Spade dress,” said Clothes Mentor owner Amy Malmquist. According to Ted Manley, the vice president of apparel lines for Clothes Mentor’s parent company, NTY Franchise, resale now makes up about 20 percent of the total retail market. While most resale store openings are growing by about 7 percent each day, Manley said they’re growing at an even faster rate. “People still want really nice things but they don’t want to pay retail prices for them,” Malmquist said. Clothes Mentor has been so successful in Chandler they plan to open more soon throughout the Valley.