Apparel-Swapping Millennials Eschew Stores and Malls

Retailers from Gap to Urban Outfitters are already struggling to persuade consumers to pay full price for clothes. Now it turns out many of their younger customers prefer trading T-shirts, jeans and designer dresses amongst themselves than actually buying new gear. Clothing swaps are a hot ticket for Americans aged 18 to 34. Millennials attend swap house parties from New York to San Francisco. And they gather online, frequenting such sites as Swapstyle.com, which has swelled to more than 55,000 members since its 2002 founding.