[category]
[title]
If an Hermès jacket and a Shein jacket weigh the same, then they cost the same. At least that’s the way it works at Happy Belated Clothing.
At the Wicker Park thrift shop tucked underneath the Blue Line tracks at 2025 W North Avenue, nothing is tagged or tracked, which means customers pay by the pound at $10 per pound. Since opening in late 2024, Daley has sourced thousands of pounds of stock from a recycling plant in Japan to fill the sizeable—albeit dimly lit—store.
Happy Belated is one of the few places in Chicago where you can buy clothing by the pound, and because everything comes from Japan, there’s more variety than a typical thrift store. Vibrant colors, charming plushies and trinkets along the walls, and a disco ball set the scene for the kind of experience you’ll have here sifting through the extensive selection of mens and womens garnments.
RECOMMENDED: The best thrift stores in Chicago
These are discount recycled pieces, so don’t expect to score designer every time. You’ll usually come across foreign and bygone brands, but every once in a while, you’ll find a needle in the haystack. One of the best recent scores was a Christian Dior blouse, likely valued at over $500, that sold for $2.98. Customers have also found high-value items from brands like Coach and Kate Spade, and as an employee told me, the lowest amount someone has paid for their items recently was 89 cents.
View this post on Instagram
All that being said, there are a few things to keep in mind before you hit the racks. First, because clothing is sourced from Japan, most items run small (Japanese sizing runs smaller than U.S. sizing). Also, be sure to carve out enough time to dig through the massive amount of inventory. Stock rotates continuously, and the selection isn’t always on par with some of Chicago’s most popular thrift stores. But if you are willing to sift through the mounds of clothes, you might score big.
Happy Belated Clothing is open daily from 11am to 8pm.