A rundown of holiday parades p. 2 Nevermind Trump’s denials — climate change is here p. 7 A Pride and Prejudice for just about everybody p. 11
By James Preston Allen, Publisher
[See Dear America, p 16]
The Case for Shopping Secondhand First
By Leslie Belt, Contributing Writer
Report (conducted by online reseller thredUP), one in three women age 18 or older, as well as a whopping 40 percent of millennials reported that they had shopped resale [read: retro retail, vintage, second hand and thrift] over the past year. Do the math and it is no big surprise that the same study found that resale is growing at nine times the rate of legacy retail. So if not slick advertising, what is the driving force behind this market disrupting trend? Industry watchers suggest it’s a growing consumer awareness of many factors related to the impact of retail.
The spend-versus-value proposition factor
‘Tis the season to get your shopping on. Recent data from the National Retail Federation sheds light on exactly what is at stake. Retailers report that fully
30 percent of their annual sales now occur between Black Friday (consumerism speak for the Friday after Thanksgiving) and Christmas. In fact, shoppers in the United States spent a record $5 billion in the 24 hours of Black Friday in 2017! With average household credit-card debt now topping $15,000 (which costs more than $900 in interest annually), who can afford to ignore the spendversus-value proposition that resale offers? When it comes to clothing, electronics, and furniture alone, thredUP estimates that buying used instead of new for just one year would save you nearly $2,500. Still not convinced? Try this fun fact on for size: resale apparel typically sells at a 70 percent discount compared to retail price. Perhaps not coincidentally, the same data
November 29 - December 12, 2018
Along the avenues of the San Pedro arts district and beyond there has emerged a kind of home-grown market for all things retro and vintage— timeless, one-of-a-kind fashion to collectible records, books, and ephemera to antique furniture and used (but still useful) housewares. To be clear, these are not the kind of items that flash across our digital screens in advertisements by the big-box stores. Nor are these the kind of shops frequented by those looking for the latest, greatest or most desirable fads of the moment (as defined by corporate marketers). In fact, these establishments and their wares are valued by an increasing number of treasure hunters/shoppers for being just the opposite. According to the 2018 Resale Market and Trend
Shopping at House 1002 on Pacific Avenue.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
His flight from New York arrived late at LAX, delayed by the smoke from the fires in Malibu, but Jose Antonio Vargas finally arrived on 6th Street in San Pedro with a flurry of excitement. Linda Nietes, the owner of Philippine Expressions Bookshop, was relieved and all smiles, for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist was the biggest literary figure to come for a book talk inside the historic Arcade Building. Vargas defies the stereotype of what some Americans think of someone is defined as “being Filipino.” He is tall and stout and talks as fast as a newscaster — and because of his name, he’s often mistaken for Hispanic. In explaining his name, why Jose doesn’t have an accent on the “e,” he says, “It’s because of the imperial legacy of United States taking over from the colonial Spanish after the war, the Americans showed up but their typewriters didn’t have accent keys.” And yet, his name is inherited from the Spanish colonial era – sin acento. (Remember that the Philippines was captured in the Spanish American war, just like Puerto Rico, but it never became an American territory and only regained independence, sort of, after the defeat of the Japanese in World War II). Vargas’ story started amid circumstances familiar to many immigrants who find out later in life that they were brought here “illegally” by their families as children. He arrived from Manila at the age of 12 with a
[See Secondhand, p. 10]
1