Maximizing Joy as Lilise Designer Resale Expands Consignment Business
Minimum waste, maximum joy. That’s the motto Elyssa Alfieri has used to guide her business since she acquired it nine years ago. You can feel the energy walking through the front door of Lilise Designer Resale on Main Street — from the colorful racks of shirts and dresses to the vintage artwork on the walls.
“I feel like I needed this place when I was a kid,” she said. “I don't think that clothing is as superficial as people want it to be. If I’m in a good outfit, I'm a better person... I'm more willing to have a conversation with a stranger at this door.”
With designer, vintage, secondhand, and new clothing and accessories, the “slow fashion” store has become a staple of the downtown shopping scene. LDR was named Best Small Business in Concord in 2024 and Elyssa pays it forward by donating unsold items to a nonprofit thrift store.
But, success hasn’t come easily. Elyssa funded the purchase of the business on her own, avoiding outside support because of negative experiences with national banks.
She felt like her “non-traditional” business didn’t matter to funders, who had preconceived ideas about what a secondhand business looked like.
LDR has a more curated environment — “all needles, no haystack,” Elyssa often says — where customers feel like they’re shopping in any of the other boutiques in Concord.
The consignment model works like this: first, consignors drop off up to 25 items at LDR. Then, Elyssa and her team sort the items and let consignors know what’s accepted for sale. LDR prices the items and puts them on the sales floor for 60 days. Consignors receive 40% of each item sold and have the option to pick up their unsold items or have them donated to charity.
“It’s like being Robin Hood for clothing,” she laughed.