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Tour Rent the Runway's Massive, Shoppable Warehouse

Photos by Driely S. for Racked
Photos by Driely S. for Racked

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Up until very recently, the few Rent the Runway stores in existence operated on the company's tried-and-true model of rentals. If you lived in Washington D.C., New York City, or Las Vegas, you could book an appointment at one of the physical locations, try on a handful of dresses, and walk out with a winner or two. The only drawback was that everything had to be returned within a few days.

For women in the Tri-State area, that's all changed with the debut of Rent the Runway's New Jersey warehouse late last year. You can't rent the dresses, but you can do something even better: buy them at a discount. The 160,000-square-foot warehouse has a dedicated 2,500-square-feet store that sells thousands of gently-used/discontinued dresses and accessories from brands like Halston Heritage, Calvin Klein, Moschino, and Badgley Mischka, and is open to customers Thursdays through Sundays. It's basically a much larger, less crowded version of their notorious New York City sample sales, which hit a fever pitch on the final days as cocktail dresses and gowns get slashed up to 90% off.

In addition to being a mega-store for eveningwear, the Seacaucus warehouse doubles as the country's largest dry-cleaner, with 32 different wet and dry machines. All in all, the warehouse houses over 80,000 dresses and accessories. That's a lot of sequins.