The Vault by WCE

To me, they seem very snobbish for a secondhand shop. I brought a tote full of current style designer jeans, handbags and sunglasses in excellent condition to their consignment counter and they were very picky and said that they would pass on making me an offer. I was shocked– I’ve been consigning high-​end clothing for years (in several other cities where I’ve lived) and never had ALL of my things refused. That was a big turnoff, they acted like they were too good for me. So the search for a great consignment shop continues.

Addendum to my previous review. I called and spoke to Theresa and she offered me my money back or she would get the $ 499 vest from Bergama and I could exchange and get the difference in pricing back. The other jacket had some cosmetic blemishes as well, so I oil the refund. But I appreciate them «making it right.» Thank you Theresa!

Would not recommend this consignment store to anyone. They pick and chose who they want to buy from. Quality of clothes to chose from are outdated and expensive. Staff is very snooty.

watch out. they will low ball you… also they made me an offer then take it back… will never visit again. WTF

Wow! Why pay retail when you can get the latest trends at consignment prices? Krista was so helpful in finding the perfect bag for me. Thanks Vault for making my shopping adventure in St. Louis memorable! I love my Marc Jacobs Bag & Kate Spade Sweater.

The Vault attempts to have a Saks-​like atmosphere, but fails terribly. This is a second hand store, there is no need to make it appear to be anything else.

A year or so ago a friend of mine graced the small screen with a small appearance in the St. Louis based show Resale Royalty. The show highlights a mother and two sisters and their resale store. After seeing Maren on the show I thought I’d pop by the Women’s Closet Exchange in South County. While I gave it a pretty stellar review on Unilocal,I wasn’t entirely blown over. The women there were what made the experience for me as the location was not anywhere near my stomping ground and the clothing wasn’t anything truly special
Well, they’ve recently opened up a second location much closer to my Victorian flat. Since, I have committed to taking back my pantry (yes… I may or may not have turned my pantry into a second closet…) after I found myself rationalizing having done so by saying, «well, I do wear clothes more than I eat,» in a complete Blair Waldorf way.
So I pulled clothing. Lots and lots of clothing. A bizarre amount with the tags still on it.
I decided to bring it to the Vault.
The Vault is definitely more high end than their sister store. They had this wonderful little lounge area that made the store have a wonderful boutique feel. I went in there to sell some stuff and buy a dress. I wound up buying black and white blouses though (thank you Harry + David for confining me so…). The white and metallic accents were just enough and made the place feel so much more airy than the other location does. Airy, light, and wonderful.
boutique feel
The lounge in The Vault by Women’s Closet Exchange in St. Louis
The staff member that greeted me (this lovely African American woman who was so incredibly sweet) and the lady that rang out my purchases were definitely the nicest of the bunch. A couple of them seemed to be bored and one ignored me entirely (and I was definitely dressed nicely — Jimmy Choo Malena, Nanette Lepore silk dress, Anthropologie floppy hat). The super nice women totally made up for it though. If anyone from The Vault ever reads this, the lady that greeted me is a total keeper.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand:
I brought in quite a few items — anticipating they would never take them all. They took the ones I thought they might… Though it did surprise me they took two of the three pairs of Seven for all Mankind jeans and not all three (since they all still had tags and were completely identical). I guess they didn’t need three identical pairs anymore than I did ;) They took the NWT $ 598 Diane Von Furstenberg Issie Sequin Dress, the $ 199.50 Michael by Michael Kors dress, the Nicole Miller $ 330 road sample dress, a $ 200 Nicole Miller top, the Chloe skirt, a Juicy Couture jacket, a Laundry by Shelli Segal jacket, a NWT $ 350 Betsey Johnson dress, a couple NWT BCBG items, and a few other things. Definitely a lot of NWT dollars.
They didn’t take some Nicole Miller pants, a pair of BCBG pants, a Cynthia Rowley jacket, a Zara woman skirt, an Adrianna Pappel dress, a Nanette Lepore dress, a pair of Miu Miu slacks, and one of the pairs of Seven for all Mankind jeans
They offered me $ 270 store credit or $ 250 cash. I am not sure they realized (the DVF dress didn’t have the $ amount on it) how much that dress was new otherwise I imagine they would have offered me a bit more. For the sake of the review and the sake of taking my pantry back I took the cash.
I also chatted with one of the daughters about my new management job. They were probably wondering (afterward) how in the world someone working as a manager at Harry + David can afford so much stuff.
My conclusion?
While I was content with the $ 250 in cash (and will probably go again to sell stuff as my closet gets out of control fast), I don’t think a lot of people would be. I happen to understand they’re in it to make a profit and to make fashion accessible. To me that makes it worth it (and they’re doing the work), especially that latter part. Accessible fashion is SO important.
I think I might go to Avalon Exchange with the rest just to compare what happens. It won’t be a perfect comparison, no doubt won’t smell as nice, and undoubtedly they won’t treat the discards with as much kindness as the woman that greeted me did.
Again, I say, I hope The Vault keeps that sales associate for a long time.

I’ve been to Women’s Closet Exchange before but I’ve never had too much luck at their Sunset Hills location. I loved watching their show and seeing all of the designer items but could never dig through the racks to find the fabulous designer items in the store. Well, now I know where all of the designer items are — they’re at The Vault!
This location just opened and it has Purple Cow on one side, accessories in the middle and then designer women’s clothing at the other end (with maternity items). Items are split by type of clothing and then by size. So all of the dresses are in one end, tops, then bottoms. Shoes and purses are along the wall. I’ve been twice and the first time I found a number of beautiful things to try on but none of them fit me (Tory Burch items are sized for smurfs) but the second time I went in, I found a beautiful silk Diane Von Furstenberg dress and because I’d sold some kids items, I was able to use the store credit and I got it for a steal.
The space is not nearly as packed as the other location but I like that. It’s simple, cleaner and easier to navigate. I found a number of great things — Chanel, Tory Burch, Diane Von Furstenberg along with a few nicer mall brands like Banana Republic and J Crew.