Twenty years ago this month, Plato’s Closet near Hamilton Place became one of the city’s hippest used clothing stores.
Customers could shop for designer brands such as Nautica and Banana Republic at up to 70% off retail prices, while exchanging their own gently used garments for cash.
There were already more than 100 Plato’s Closet stores nationwide when the East Brainerd store opened in the Hamilton Crossing shopping center in June 2005, according to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. People were lined up outside the store at 5 a.m. on opening day, five hours before the doors would be unlocked.
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Current owner Kurt Morris, who bought the store in 2008 with his brother Ken Morris, said Plato’s Closet still has teens and 20-somethings as its target audience. The Morris brothers, who also renovate houses, own the Painter Ready business here, as well.