Fashion Avenue, Edina MN

Reviewed June 29th, 2013

Let's face it. If you live in the Twin Cities, love high-end designer thrift shopping, crave the best stuff  -  Louis Vuitton, Prada, Coach, Chanel, Burberry, Manolo Blahnik, David Yurman - at the most amazing prices and you're breathing, you already know about Fashion Avenue. Everyone who's in this game to win it knows about Fashion Avenue. So why ThriftDog,you ask, are you even reviewing this amazing mecca of consignment if everyone already knows about it? Are you bored? Lazy? Drunk? Groggy from a marathon watching of back-to-back episodes of all of Season Three of Game of Thrones?

No, friends, I am not. (Ok, I am guilty of the last one.) I'm writing about Fashion Avenue because really, if I didn't, you'd think me an amateur at this. Fashion Avenue is the place that out-of-town fashionistas go to first when they're in the Cities on the advice of their plugged-in Minneapolis friends. The place the local fashion and style celebs rave about on their radio shows. The place you go to if you have finally decided to splurge on a gently-used LV bag and you want to know for sure it is one hundred percent authentic. I myself have been known to stare blankly, eyes glazed and lips moist, into that locked glass case full of LV, Chanel and Gucci bags in the middle of the store for what seems like hours on end, at least to the point where the employees probably wonder if they should be calling the authorities.

Located in the trendy-upscale 50th and France shopping area of Edina (with another store, which I haven't visited, in Wayzata), Fashion Avenue has been on the scene since before I got my first tattoo back when Ross Perot was running for president. If you have any qualms at all about the authenticity of the merchandise, you need not worry - owners Gretchen and Lee Weisman and their team have been working with high-end designer merchandise for decades. What's more, they have extensive connections with the people who can actually afford this stuff new - designers, stylists, socialites and Couture store owners locally and nationwide. Heck, they have it stated right on their consignment contract that they throw "fake" purses away. How can you not love these guys? Regardless of your views on carrying a faux, you have to feel at least a little relieved that Fashion Avenue is doing their part to rid the universe of scary fashion items you really shouldn't waste your hard-earned money on in the first place.

That being said, this is not the kind of store where you will usually find stuff for less than 20 bucks - although I did once buy a beautiful pair of sterling and garnet earrings there for twelve dollars -nor will you only find luxury handbags. Fashion Avenue is laden with all kinds of yummy luxury and high-end items - suits, scarves, sunglasses, jewelry (yes, I regularly spot David Yurman pieces there), sportswear, athletic wear and menswear. The shoe rack is glorious, carries every important brand from Chanel to Coach and is always heavily bodied with hungry females. The prices are higher than a regular thrift store, but hugely competitive for the quality. (I mean, really- if you're buying a Louis Vuitton tote bag, which generally starts retailing at $800.00 and up, for anything less than about $500.00 gently used, chances are it's a fake). My most recent purchase there was a Longchamps tote - yes, one of those ridiculous utilitarian totes that last longer than cockroaches and Cher but are way overpriced new, IMHO- for around 50 bucks. It's a nice khaki color, sturdy and waterproof with the lovely leather signature handles and logo, plus at that price I still had enough jack left over to stop and buy groceries on the drive home to load it up with .

Fashion Avenue will be the first place I go for my next big quest - to find a perfect, gently used women's black North Face jacket, with logos on the front and the back, for fall. So far, I haven't been able to find one anywhere -- do people never get rid of their North Face jackets? I know if one is out there, but if there is, it will probably rest with these guys. So Fashion Avenue, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Fashion Avenue
4936 France Avenue South
Edina, MN
(952) 929-7919
http://www.fashionavenueresale.com/home