Lessons from thriving second-hand clothing businesses for Kenya's fashion industry

Abstract

Secondhand Clothing trade commonly known as 'mitumba' trade in Kenya and 'thrift shops' in Europe and the United States has rapidly grown to claim a substantial share of the textile and clothing industry market in the country since the late 1970s/early 80's, when it was brought in duty free by charities during the wars in Zaire, Rwanda, Somalia and Burundi and later became a viable commercialized business. Market liberalization which allowed for the importation of goods at reduced costs into Kenya provided opportunity for Secondhand Clothing Trade to expand. Thus because locally manufactured garments are retailed expensively, these apparel have become highly marketable and affordable to consumers. With the number of 'mitumba' apparel traders increasing rapidly, the local industry has been threatened to the point that many textile and clothing industries have either closed down or become redundant. Data were collected from a random sample of 65 secondhand apparel traders drawn from three market centers in Nairobi. Having startup capital and providing high quality merchandise to consumers were major motivating factors to respondents that ventured into this business. Therefore the study recommends that local apparel traders adopt these factors, to increase their business viability and success.

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