INTERVIEW #12 ARKIVET
Interview with the founder Caroline Hamrin
Why did you start Arkivet?
Second hand has always been a part of my life. My grandmother opened a Second Hand shop in the 80’s in Stockholm so you could say that I grew up with it. After High School I went to the US to study Business, after my studies started an interior design company with a friend. I learned a lot about service, design, sales and to run my own a company. When I returned back home to Sweden I took over my grandmothers store. For four years I ran that business and I learned a lot about running a second hand shop. For example, the importance of communicating to the buying costumer and the people who came to hand in their clothes. At that time, it was a difference between the ones who handed in the clothes and the ones who bought it. I had a lot of fun during those years but I was not ready to develop and grow the business so I sold the shop when my first son was born. I sold the Second Hand shop in 2008, I was 30 years old at the time, and already then had a vision about what kind of store I wanted to create. Later on I worked for the fashion brand Boomerang and was responsible for a few shops. I learned the basics in retailing and having employees. After that I worked with recruiting and purchasing for a few years. Reaching my 40 with both personal and work experience it became time for me to finally start my own Second Hand Shop. I had the idea of mixing clothing from fast fashion brands with high fashion and I knew I needed volumes and with that said, big stores. I knew I had the experience of running stores and providing a good customer experience.
How does the business model work? What kind of second hand items are being sold?
At Arkivet we accept everything that is trendy, in fashion and in season if they are in good condition of course. It does not really matter if it is from Zara or Celine, as long as it reflects and fits in to our concept. In the beginning it was a challenge to communicate and teach our customers that the trend is more important than the brand. It is also about visualisation and how we communicate and label Arkivet. At Arkivet we are conscious about the details such as music and staff. All our staff are trained to do things in Arkivet’s way. That is one of the learnings I got during my time at Boomerang, to work with a concept.
What has been and are the major challenges?
The major challenges are to not grow to fast. It is easy to open new stores and say yes to every opportunity, but it is a challenge to maintain the concept, high service level and a dedicated team. If we at times loses focus, we remind ourselves to go “Back to Basic”. For instance, if we lose inspiration of how to display something in the shop, we remind ourselves to go back to basic which means, follow our core concept.
What has been and are the largest gains?
My team. It’s amazing to work with such dedicated and creative people that I do. I’m not doing this alone, I’m doing this with my team. It’s about us working together and listening to each other and our customers. We have a lot of fun working with fashion, but we are doing something good for the environment at the same time. It is incredibly fun and inspiring to see how new customers who has not shopped second hand before respond when they discover Arkivet. We make it easy, fun, and trendy to buy second hand.
What do you think needs to change now in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable?
We must consume less, that is the only way. We need to think of what we are buying and why. To take care of out belongings is also a big part of it, we do not have to wash our clothes after every use. We do the same at Arkivet, we take care of the clothes that is handed in, regardless the material or brand.
What do you believe is “greenwashing” and what can producers and consumers do to avoid it?
According to me, Greenwashing, is when an organisation presents a product or themselves and use the term “sustainability” to promote it or themselves as environmentally friendly. Nowadays the term “sustainability” is a huge topic within the fashion industry. Today everyone “must” and want to be sustainable. One problem with the big and fast fashion industries, is that they cannot be sustainable as they promote, because their business is about to produce a large amount of clothes for an extremely low cost. Both producers and consumers can be more transparent and informative when it comes to both produce and consume clothes. We all need to be more responsible when it comes to fashion. The best thing we can do as consumers is to stay informed, stay aware and to use and cherish our clothes for a longer time or make sure that someone else does it.
What would you advice consumers to do who seeks to create a sustainable closet and lifestyle?
I plan and think about what I want and need in my closet during a specific season. I think it through, I do my research and I plan for what colours and specific items that I want.
How can I do with my own things and others, sort something out when you buy something new. I live by the saying “One in one out”. I always have one pile with my children’s things and one of my things. I divide it to different piles depending on condition, one pile that I resell, one for donation, and a third for recycling.
Sometimes it is more about accessories instead of clothing. We sell glasses and other things too. You can change an outfit with accessories.
Take care of your items. Like shoes, brush them! And your clothes, air them do not wash clothes to often. Never put them in the dryer!
Have an organised closet, so you can see your clothes. Do not have too much in your closet. We normally only wear a small part of our closets. Make things visible so you can easily see how you want to combine different items.
You can visit Arkivet here and follow them on Instagram!
