As the saying goes, “What’s meant for you will find you.” Perhaps it is so for Andrea McCarter and Mary Beth Erps, sisters and co-owners of Clothes Mentor, a fabulous boutique selling gently used name-brand and designer women’s fashions and accessories off 149th and Maple Streets.
When the franchise opportunity came across Erps desk in 2016, something special caught her eye. She’d worked for a bank representing franchise groups across the country for years, so she was well versed with the inner workings, but something about Clothes Mentor’s concept and values stayed with her. To boot, she found there were over 130 franchised stores across the country, except for a small hole in Nebraska and Iowa! But was it too good to be true?
Erps immediately called her sister, McCarter, to share her discovery but life happened and the two didn’t take the plunge. Well, at least not yet.
“We kept saying ‘I wish somebody would bring one to Omaha,’” said Erps. “After five years of talking, we decided to be the ones to do it.”
"Our lives went in different directions and after experiencing what we've experienced in our careers, we decided we wanted to own something. We wanted to do something for ourselves, for our families and our kids, and for the community,” added McCarter. “I reached out to Mary Beth and said, ‘Maybe we should look into this.’ We opened about a year after that.”
Since opening in June 2023, the women have been amazed at how their lives have changed as well as the unforeseen ways operating the store has enriched their lives. Unexpectedly, their staff has become like family and customers have become friends, maybe explaining some of their success and why the community has embraced the women and their store, filling it with a bevy of beautiful, gently used garments, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and accessories.
Said Erps, “Every Clothes Mentor is very unique to its owners, its city, and even its demographics within its city. They give you leeway and we really wanted to strive for that boutique feel.”
“And each Clothes Mentor has its own personality,” said McCarter. “We are excited to really understand our local customer, but more importantly, bring what we would want, which is organization, cleanliness, that all-around boutique feel, but secondhand clothing that deserves another life. So while we are a franchise, we have full creative control, so it very much is local — as well as women and family owned.”
With a focus on inclusivity, the boutique offers clothing sizes XXSmall to 4X as well as personal stylists to help you find that one-of-a kind item that perfectly fits.
“We help our customers understand that the size is a guide, but it doesn't matter. It's truly what you look good in, what you feel good in. We have one of each item on the floor. There are really no duplicates. By organizing by color and size and style, and also having somebody that can help customers piece things together, we make it as simple as possible to look your best,” said McCarter.
This is just part of what sets Clothes Mentor apart from other resale stores in the Omaha area. Not only can you buy items at 70% off original retail prices and sell your gently used items to the store for cash (or 25% more for in-store credit), but they also offer complimentary personal styling sessions, private shopping parties, and event and fundraising opportunities. An unexpected surprise for both ladies has been the connections they’ve made with local nonprofits as they’ve incorporated ways to give back into their company culture and business model.
All items not purchased from customers by Clothes Mentor that a customer chooses not to keep, as well as items that don’t sell in the store after a certain amount of time, are donated to area women-empowering nonprofits that McCarter and Erps have built relationships with — amazing charities like Santa Monica House, offering family-style treatment homes for women recovering from addiction, Women’s Center for Advancement, a full-service domestic abuse treatment center, and Micah House, a homeless shelter serving families in Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
“We really try to support the community as much as possible,” said McCarter. “We support some nonprofits that don't necessarily get as much donations. When we're able to support them and see how excited they can be, you know you're doing something good. It’s just really warms your heart.”
McCarter and Erps also appreciate how the business model of Clothes Mentor and reselling gently used clothing promotes sustainable fashion in the community. As the fashion industry produces over 92,000,000 tons of textile waste and 20% of global wastewater each year, shopping their carefully curated, secondhand finds promotes sustainability and water conservation while combatting waste.
“Sustainable fashion is really what it boils down to,” McCarter stated. “We hope that over time, more women will choose secondhand shopping before going straight to online and ordering from overseas companies that are providing very poor quality — that women would see the value here and understand what you're doing for the local community, what you're doing for other women, and for Omaha in general.”
For more information on Clothes Mentor, to sign up for a complimentary session with a personal shopper, or to shop online, visit OmahaNe.ClothesMentor.com. Short on time? The store ships orders nationally and also offers free local pick up for online purchases. For events and daily posts of recent finds, connect with Clothes Mentor on Instagram at @CMOmaha and on Facebook at @ClothesMentorOmaha.