The “forever francesca’s®” platform allows customers to shop for secondhand apparel, shoes and accessories online and resell pre-loved items of any brand for shopping credit.

JANUARY 31, 2023 (Houston, Texas and Oakland, Calif.) – Francesca’s Acquisition, LLC, a specialty retailer operating a nationwide chain of francesca’s® and franki by francesca’s® boutiques providing customers with unique and carefully curated fashion, accessories, jewelry, and lifestyle products, today announced “forever francesca’s®,” a 360-resale program powered by  thredUP (NASDAQ: TDUP), one of the largest online resale platforms for women's and kids' apparel, shoes, and accessories. By leveraging thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service® (RaaS®), francesca’s will utilize thredUP’s proprietary operating platform to allow its customers to shop secondhand products directly through its website and resell apparel for francesca’s shopping credit.

“forever francesca’s,” promotes circularity by encouraging customers to buy secondhand items and helping them extend the lifespan of their clothes in a few simple steps.  First, customers can shop a broad selection of secondhand items from francesca’s online at francescas.thredup.com. Second, customers can earn francesca’s shopping credit by sending in their pre-loved items. To do so, customers can generate a prepaid shipping label from francescas.thredup.com, fill any shippable box or bag with women’s and kid’s items from any brand in their closet, and ship it to thredUP for free. For items that sell on thredUP, customers receive francesca’s shopping credit that can be used both online and in-store at francesca’s. For a limited time, those who sell through “forever francesca’s” will earn an extra 15 percent shopping credit towards their next francesca’s purchase.  

“We are aware of the environmental impact apparel has on our planet, and our work with thredUP in launching “forever francesca’s” is an important first step in doing our part to make a difference,” said Jann Parish, Chief Marketing Officer at francesca’s. “Our Millennial and Gen-Z customers value their eco footprint but they also come to our boutique for a fun opportunity to find something unique – resale is the perfect blend of both of those experiences. This strategic alignment with thredUP allows us to innovate how we go to market and offer customers unique product solutions that meet their shifting demands.”

It is estimated that 36 billion clothing items are thrown away each year in the United States, 95 percent of which could be reused or recycled (source: EPA Clothing and Footwear Waste Estimates). thredUP found that secondhand displaced nearly one billion clothing purchases in 2021 that would have otherwise been bought new, according to its 2022 Resale Report.

“As resale becomes more mainstream among brands and retailers, we’re honored that francesca’s chose thredUP’s RaaS to power its resale experience and trust us in their first step towards a more circular future,” said James Reinhart, CEO of thredUP. “francesca’s customer demographic is the perfect candidate for resale, as Gen Z and Millennials are the ones largely powering resale’s growth.”

 To learn more about forever francesca’s, visit francescas.thredup.com.

About francesca’s®

francesca's® is a specialty retailer which operates a nationwide chain of francesca’s® and franki by francesca’s® boutiques providing customers a unique, fun and personalized shopping experience. The merchandise assortment is a diverse and balanced mix of apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts. Today, francesca's® operates approximately 454 boutiques in 45 states and also serves its customers online. For additional information on francesca's®, please visit www.francescas.com.

About thredUP

thredUP is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, thredUP has become one of the world's largest online resale platforms for women's and kids' apparel, shoes and accessories. Sellers love thredUP because we make it easy to clean out their closets and unlock value for themselves or for the charity of their choice while doing good for the planet. Buyers love shopping value, premium and luxury brands all in one place, at up to 90% off estimated retail price. Our proprietary operating platform is the foundation for our managed marketplace and consists of distributed processing infrastructure, proprietary software and systems and data science expertise. With thredUP's Resale-as-a-Service, some of the world's leading brands and retailers are leveraging our platform to deliver customizable, scalable resale experiences to their customers. thredUP has processed over 137 million unique secondhand items from 55,000 brands across 100 categories. By extending the life cycle of clothing, thredUP is changing the way consumers shop and ushering in a more sustainable future for the fashion industry.