Slow Fashion: Melodie van der Baan Of Max Retail On Why They Are Embracing Slow Fashion and Renewable Consumption
As ‘slow fashion’ grows in popularity, more fashion companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Renewable consumption has been gaining popularity for a while, as people recognize its importance, and many fashion companies want to be a part of this change. In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders in the fashion industry to discuss why they are embracing slow fashion and renewable consumption. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Melodie van der Baan.
Melodie van der Baan‘s journey began as a distributor and independent retailer, where she developed a unique understanding of excess inventory across SMB retail businesses. This hands-on experience unveiled the complexities of inventory management, motivating her to pioneer solutions that bridge the gap between online and offline retailers and drive industry-wide progress.
Early on in her career, van der Baan’s ingenuity earned her the title of winner in the Fast Company & Mercedes-Benz Drive Your Business Forward contest, underscoring her position as an innovator in the retail industry. She launched Max Retail following Steve Blank’s ‘The Lean Startup’ with her co-founders while still owning a retail store, finally selling it in 2021 prior to raising their first capital investment. Today, Max Retail helps over 2k independent retailers nationwide recoup their wholesale cost on unsold inventory. Her pragmatic approach and clear communication resonate in industry discussions on esteemed platforms like Shoptalk and podcasts such as Rethink Retail, Retail Wire, Inc, SupplyChainBrain, and Management One.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. Our Saturdays were spent driving around town, hopping from one garage sale to another. My father always said, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” I think this phrase sank deep into my core and has directed me ever since.
I have vivid memories of those garage sale adventures — the thrill of finding a pair of Minnie Mouse ears or a Rainbow Bright pajama dress. These weren’t just items; they were treasures to me.
The first time I stepped into a fitting room was when I was around 7 or 8 years old. My grandmother was visiting, and she took me to Byrons during its going-out-of-business sale. It was an amazing experience standing in a dressing room having new clothes brought to me to try on. The feeling of wearing something brand new was fantastic, but it didn’t make my Minnie Mouse costume any less special.
My mother worked three jobs to keep us in private school, so we didn’t see her much, but she was always a beacon of joy. She was a nurse practitioner and wore her lab coat over a beautiful dress every day. Patients were drawn to her positive energy and dedication. She taught me that hard work, no matter how difficult, is always worthwhile if it brings joy and serves others.
One of the most powerful values my mom instilled in me was the mantra, “figure it out.” She never said “no” and instead, she encouraged me to be resourceful. When I wanted to enter a beauty pageant, I knocked on every door in the neighborhood to raise the entry fee. I raised the amount and placed third in the pageant! When my mother was running for the Commissioner position in our city election, my sister, mother and I distributed her flyers every weekend for months, door to door for miles. Sure enough, she was elected. I learned early on that if you knock on enough doors, you can achieve anything.
By age 10, I was taking the bus everywhere. At 14, I started working in the church kitchen, earning $5 an hour. By 15, my mother had opened a joint bank account for us, matching every deposit I made. This not only taught me financial responsibility but also reinforced the benefits of hard work and independence.
All these experiences shaped the person I am. When I started my first company DBC Showroom at age 22, I represented designers and placed them into boutiques by means of driving store to store in my Sprinter van. Calling on small businesses, schlepping rolling racks in and out of stores, working 14 hour days on the road 36 weeks per year. Yes it was hard but I loved it. And it was these in-person experiences with retailers, brands and inventory that lead to the inception of Max Retail.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
Before founding Max Retail, I spent 9 years as an independent retailer and 5 years as a distributor. Throughout my career, I repeatedly encountered the problem of excess inventory, which was incredibly frustrating for my customers — both brands and retailers. As a distributor traveling the country in a sprinter van, the retailers and brands I visited would constantly point to their sale racks and ask me “Mel, how can you help?” But it wasn’t until I opened my own women’s specialty store in 2012 that I realized how intense this problem was for a small business. Now I was the one with a sale rack, and no one was helping me. The brands I carried in-store wouldn’t take back their merchandise, as it would become a liability to them. Unsold inventory was a hot potato and no one wanted it.
Recognizing the need for a network to solve this issue, Max Retail was born. I initially started facilitating merchandise exchanges between retailers, applied for a patent, and launched our first marketplace for retailers to buy, sell and swap unsold inventory with one another that was called SwapRetail. We’ve made pivots along the way as we realized the number one thing retailers wanted was simple, to SELL. They had orders on file they needed to bring in and vendors to pay. We also realized through a number of experiments that getting these unsold products in front of end consumers was the best way to get retailers and brands the best price for their past season goods. At that point we rebranded to Max Retail. I have amazing cofounders, supportive investors and a passionate team committed to building a scalable technology platform to support retail companies experiencing excess inventory.
Today, Max Retail exists to provide retail business owners with more cash, less stress, more time, and better inventory management. Our mission is to transform inventory problems into financial opportunities, helping businesses thrive.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
A few years ago, before Max Retail had launched its dropship division for retailers and brands, we were handling a bulk liquidation deal for a footwear brand that needed to liquidate 300,000 pairs of shoes. This was a significant deal for us and because we financed sellers before receiving payment from buyers, there was a considerable risk involved.
I traveled to California to inspect the merchandise at the warehouse myself. Standing in this massive warehouse, holding a piece of paper and spot-checking pairs of shoes that had been sitting there for over three years made the problem incredibly tangible. In an independent retail store, a sales rack filled with past-season inventory doesn’t look like much (although it ends up being $100k of financial losses annually). But in that warehouse, with pallets stacked two times taller than me and the room as big as a football field, the size of the problem was undeniable.
This experience was a defining moment for me. It was a stark realization of the sheer scale of excess inventory that brands and retailers struggle with and the meaningful impact our solutions can have in alleviating these challenges. Physically standing amidst that sea of shoes made the problem — and our mission — very real.
Another fascinating story came from our dropship division, where we help brands and retailers sell single units and recuperate higher payouts. I noticed one customer consistently earning ten times the average seller payouts compared to others on Max Retail. Intrigued, I reached out to her to understand how she was using our platform.
She owned a small store in a seasonal town, bustling in the summer but quiet in the winter. With a basement full of excess inventory she’d been stashing for a couple of years, she told me that she’d made it a habit to list one item on Max Retail — every single day. Her success boiled down to her frequency and consistency — listing every day as opposed to every quarter like most sellers.
Her strategy taught us a valuable lesson about success on our platform. She even optimized her sell-through by reducing her listing prices periodically, causing her products to refresh across our network of sales channels and gain better page placement. This customer’s approach showed us the power of consistency, and it helped shape our understanding of what drives success on Max Retail.
These experiences emphasize the strength of our community at Max Retail. We learn and grow together, taking invaluable lessons from our customers. This collaborative spirit is a core part of our DNA and continues to drive us forward.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Passion: Passion has been a driving force behind my success. I never aspired to be a founder or CEO. However, my entire career has revolved around the issue of excess inventory, and I couldn’t stand by and not try to solve it for myself and the retail community I love. As I look back, there were countless moments when it seemed like giving up would have been the easier choice, but it never passed through my mind. For instance, I’ve had two children since starting this venture, and juggled all while running my retail store, DURING A PANDEMIC. During our first year with Max Retail, we struggled with fewer than 50 transactions monthly. And yet, my passion for solving the inventory problem in a way that benefitted the retail community kept me going. I knew we’d figure it out one way or another. So passion is critical to success; if you don’t have it, you won’t have the courage to press on.
Self-Worth: Understanding my self-worth has been crucial in my role as a leader. Knowing my identity outside of my professional role, and even outside my roles as a wife, mother, or friend, has grounded me. I recognize that my value isn’t tied to what I do or how much I achieve; it’s inherent because I exist. This mindset allows me to accept being wrong and making mistakes without letting my ego drive my decisions. On any given week, you’ll find me saying I’m wrong or apologizing to a teammate or customer. Knowing my self-worth means that I’m free from fears and false drivers that could lead to poor judgments. Money, health, and position can all fade, but my value remains constant because I am a living, breathing human being.
Empathy: Whether it’s showing empathy towards customers, employees, or investors, putting myself in someone else’s shoes comes naturally to me. Listening isn’t always easy — it often involves hearing uncomfortable truths or recognizing shortcomings within myself or my company. Nevertheless, empathy ties back to passion and self-worth, creating a strong, healthy company and adding value to the industry. What keeps me up at night is knowing what my customers want from us and never backing down from the challenge of delivering it to them. My empathy drives my connection to our customer which translates into our technology roadmap. Empathy is about hearing what others are saying and responding in a way that reflects an understanding of their perspective.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Max Retail differentiates itself by focusing on independent retailers, brands and small to medium-sized businesses. Unlike traditional liquidation solutions, we do not require sellers to ship their inventory off-premise, nor at pennies on the dollar payouts. Our platform allows retailers to keep their inventory in-store, giving them the flexibility to make sales both in their physical locations and through our network. Additionally, our proprietary technology and deep industry insights enable us to provide tailored solutions that our competitors cannot match. We actively seek to understand the needs of retail companies, what they want, how they run their businesses, and what keeps them up at night. We focus on building solutions for them and understand them better than anyone else. This is our superpower.
In fact, being in tune with their needs is what allowed us to quickly pivot from Swap Retail to Max Retail. Through our tight feedback loop, we understood it was simple, our customers just needed to sell. At that point, it no longer made sense to be called Swap Retail with the tagline “you don’t have to swap”. We then decided to work hard on building strong partnerships with ecommerce sites and third-party marketplaces to sell this unsold inventory sitting on the sale racks across America. And so, we became Max Retail to “get the most out of your inventory.”
Anonymity is our most important and strongest pillar at Max Retail. At the end of the day, no one wants anyone to know how much unsold inventory they have on hand. How we came upon this core pillar was through me calling retailers back after five years of owning my own store, curious about this problem that was still unsolved. The first thing out of everyone’s mouth was “but I don’t want them to know it’s me,” so we built a platform with complete discretion where a retailer simply has a seller number associated and nothing more to reveal their unsold goods.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
My mother would always say, “Don’t worry honey, it only gets harder.” At first glance, this could sound negative. But over the years, I’ve come to realize its wisdom — it’s not about life becoming more difficult, but about us growing stronger.
I’ve mentored a number of young women, one of them being an 18 year old girl who had her first heartbreak. I consoled her but also let her know that it was only going to get harder. Understandably, she was devastated at the time. Twelve years later, she and I still laugh about it and agree, it’s gotten much harder and yet she is so much stronger. Throughout her life’s ups and downs, she’s found strength in that piece of advice. Each heartbreak and every challenge was met with the understanding that she was building resilience.
All you mothers out there would likely agree — the first breakup during your teenage years now seems trivial compared to the complexities of relationships with your spouse or the challenges of raising children, or even letting go of an employee that you’ve developed a deep relationship with.
This life lesson isn’t about predicting tougher times as a form of pessimism. Rather, it’s about fostering an attitude of growth and preparedness.
Remember, resilience is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Therefore, every hardship is an opportunity to train yourself for future challenges. Embrace the struggles, learn from them, and know that each one is equipping you for what’s to come.
Who is your fashion hero or heroine? Why?
My fashion heroine is Iris Apfel, who remains a timeless icon in the world of fashion. Iris was completely unapologetic about her style choices and embraced fashion with an exuberant spirit that was truly infectious. She didn’t care about anybody’s opinion and wore what she loved with confidence and flair. What made Iris remarkable was her ability to be a bright light and a bit cheeky in every room she entered. Above all, Iris Apfel was her full, authentic self until the very end. She inspired many, including myself, to be fearless and express individuality.
Why did you decide to create and use a sustainable business model for your fashion brand?
Max Retail’s commitment to sustainability ensures that excess goods find a rightful home. Our vision is to solve inventory issues upstream. Initially, we focused on past-season merchandise, but we are expanding to in-season products that retailers and brands are over-indexed on and that would become excess inventory if not handled early on in the product life cycle. This also gives us the opportunities to pay our sellers more for their unsold, but not yet aged, inventory. Our ultimate goal is to offer markdown recommendations and provide data insights for demand forecasting and buying on a SKU level. We aim to help retail companies understand and act on their inventory to ultimately run lean, highly liquid inventory businesses.
What are three things we should all know about “slow fashion”?
Sustainability and Ethics: Slow fashion emphasizes the importance of sustainable practices and ethical production. It encourages the use of eco-friendly materials and fair labor practices, ensuring that the environment and the people involved in the production process are treated with respect and care.
Quality Over Quantity: Unlike fast fashion, which prioritizes quick production and low costs, slow fashion focuses on creating high-quality, timeless pieces that last longer. This approach reduces the need for frequent purchases and helps to combat the throwaway culture associated with fast fashion.
Mindful Consumption: Slow fashion encourages consumers to be more mindful about their purchases. It promotes the idea of investing in fewer, better-quality items that you truly love and will wear often, rather than constantly buying new clothes that quickly go out of style or fall apart. This mindset helps reduce waste and promotes a more sustainable way of living.
Max Retail supports the slow fashion movement by helping retailers manage their inventory more sustainably. Instead of letting unsold inventory gather dust in-store or resorting to traditional liquidation methods, we provide a platform for these items to find new owners, reducing waste and promoting a more circular economy. Our efforts align with the principles of slow fashion and renewable consumption by extending the life cycle of products and minimizing environmental impact.
Can you please explain how it can be fashionable to buy less, wait a little longer, or even repair clothing?
When you become more selective about your purchases, you create a curated wardrobe filled with high-quality, timeless pieces that reflect your personal style. Each item becomes a deliberate choice, showcasing a unique and thoughtful fashion sense that stands out far more than transient fast-fashion trends.
In our culture of instant gratification, waiting to purchase an item can seem counterintuitive. However, there’s something empowering about making a thoughtful purchase. Give yourself time to evaluate whether your desire for an item is a fleeting impulse or a genuine need. Leave it in your cart for a few days. If days later you still feel the same about it, get it. This patience allows you to allocate your budget more thoughtfully, enabling you to invest in higher-quality items that offer better longevity and style.
The best slow fashion treasures are often found through independent retailers, not mass-market giants. Local and independent shops put incredible care into sourcing their items. They have personally touched, examined, and confirmed each piece to be worthy of their customers. These pieces are crafted from superior materials with better construction, ensuring they last longer and maintain their appearance over time.
Repairing and upcycling clothing allow you to add a personal touch to your wardrobe. Mending a favorite pair of jeans or adding patches to a jacket not only extends the life of these items but also adds character and uniqueness to your style. This approach showcases your creativity and commitment to sustainability — a value increasingly recognized as both fashionable and forward-thinking. Even if you don’t feel like you can make these sorts of things yourself, you can often scoop them up at a thrift store!
Ultimately, slow fashion is about adopting a more sustainable, ethical, and personal approach to clothing. It’s about making deliberate choices that reflect not only your style but also your values. By supporting local retailers and brands dedicated to quality and sustainability, you contribute to a more responsible fashion industry. To truly embrace slow fashion is to engage with the community and brands that make these mindful choices available.
Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Slow Fashion Brand”?
- Proper Planning: Smaller brands often lack the budget, or just have not yet chosen to hire buyers, planners, and allocators, as larger brands are able to. Thankfully, we are now in an era of AI. Companies like Syrup and Synth have come to market in recent years and have made a significant impact on brands and their ability to properly plan their inventory. Additionally, utilizing platforms, like NuOrder by Lightspeed and Oracle, helps brands to organize and track orders with full visibility to streamline your operations, making sure you’re not left with excess inventory. Proper planning is not just about forecasting; it’s about having a structured system in place that can adapt and respond to market demands in real-time. The more these companies are adopted by brands, the more progress we will make towards proper inventory levels.
- Produce the Right Amount: Manufacturers pressure brands to order more, offering them a lower price per unit with higher quantities. This temptation is hard to resist. The result of this is more units produced than necessary. And we’re not talking hundreds, we are talking thousands of units unallocated, which becomes excess inventory the day it arrives at the warehouse. Commit to not give in to these tactics and trust your planning. When you resist this urge, you will truly be dedicated to leading a slow-fashion brand and upholding sustainability. Additionally, implementing technological tools, such as Max Retail, streamlines the elimination of excess inventory, helping brands maintain optimal stock levels.
- Diversify Your Distribution Network: Diversify your network of sales channels to mitigate business risk. Hyper dependency on a single channel can make you susceptible to carrying excess inventory. Many external factors, such as market fluctuations, changes in consumer preferences, and supply chain disruptions, can impact the performance and stability of your distribution network. When you’re relying on the majority of your assortment to sell, it is essential to widen your distribution. Therefore, it’s important to sell to independent retailers to increase your order volume, partner with major department stores, and sell directly to consumers.
- Don’t Be a Jerk: Brand integrity and exceptional customer service are incredibly important to building long-lasting relationships with your customers, whether they are end-consumers, independent retailers, or major department stores. Start by documenting your mission, vision and processes to enable your team to deliver a consistent customer service experience and uphold your company values. Additionally, if you make a product that is not acceptable, you need to stand behind it. This means offering repairs, replacements, or refunds if necessary. By standing behind your products, you demonstrate a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, which are essential for maintaining trust and loyalty in the slow fashion industry.
- Responsibly Manage Excess Inventory: Ensure you have strategies in place for managing at-risk and past-season inventory. Consider options such as drop shipping on e-commerce sites, selling on platforms like Max Retail, liquidating inventory when necessary, or donating to trustworthy organizations at the end of the product life cycle. Responsible management of excess inventory not only aligns with sustainable practices but also enhances your brand’s reputation as a leader in the slow fashion movement.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Website: maxretail.com
Instagram: @joinmaxretail
YouTube: @joinmaxretail
Melodie van de Baan’s Linkedin
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising.
Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.
