Members-Only Swap Shop Style Blender Opens in WeHo

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While the drawn-out recession has been hard on many boutiques, clothing resale shops both LA-based and online have been reaping the rewards of more careful shoppers. One newcomer to the scene is Style Blender, opened by three fashion industry vets in late January.

Style Blender is a different sort of consignment shop, one that replaces the typical donation for cash model with a kind of barter system. The owners describe it as, "a women’s trading club where you can bring in wardrobe items that you are not wearing and trade them for other items that other women (just like you) are also no longer using." For a $30 monthly fee, members can visit the boutique with gently-worn items from their closets to swap out for fresh styles. Style Blender staffers will sort through the donations and will assign out points representing the value of each item—like other consignment shops, they might not take everything you bring in. You then shop with your points as currency.

It's certainly a novel concept. What do you think of the whole thing?
· Style Blender [Official Site]