{"id":4194,"date":"2025-12-16T16:33:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=4194"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:33:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:33:22","slug":"canadian-peer-to-peer-clothing-rental-company-rax-is-expanding-to-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=4194","title":{"rendered":"Canadian peer-to-Peer clothing rental company Rax is expanding to the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"


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Marley Alles\u00a0started\u00a0out in\u00a0accounting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She thought that her dream was to work at a big company. \u201cAnd then once I\u00a0got\u00a0there, I was like \u2018oh, that\u2019s it,\u201d she told TechCrunch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alles began fostering other passions and found herself curious about the world of startups. She would listen to every podcast and read each book, taking notes on topics that interested her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0think much of it until one summer when so many of her friends got married,\u00a0that\u00a0she found herself spending thousands of dollars on bridesmaid dresses\u00a0and\u00a0bachelorette looks.\u00a0One day, someone\u00a0approached\u00a0her and\u00a0asked\u00a0to borrow one of her dresses. \u201cI was like \u2018yeah, for sure, take it,\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cAnd then I thought, \u2018how can this be done on a larger scale?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alles had all these expensive dresses just sitting in her closet. She\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to sell\u00a0it,\u00a0but she knew she\u00a0probably would\u00a0never wear those gowns again. \u201cThat\u2019s what led me,\u00a0long\u00a0story short, to create Rax,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alles launched\u00a0Rax earlier<\/a> this year as a peer-to-peer clothing rental company. It functions right now as a marketplace (it does not own any clothing inventory), where users\u00a0scroll\u00a0through listings and connect with people who have clothing items they want to rent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u2019s\u00a0bootstrapped\u00a0the company\u00a0so far, enough to fully code the app and officially launch it.\u00a0The first few customers were her friends and family, and the rest came by word of mouth. Alles said she leaned into the idea of \u201cbuilding in public,\u201d where she posted online about her adventures creating this product in hopes of amassing an engaged audience of potential customers.\u00a0She has about 5,000 users on the app right now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rex is one of the first of its\u00a0kind\u00a0to be launched in Toronto.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0like\u00a0Rent-the-Runway, or\u00a0New York\u2019s Pickle, or Europe\u2019s ByRotation.\u00a0The idea of renting clothes \u2014\u00a0similar to\u00a0buying secondhand \u2014has been picking up steam as it is seen as a more environmentally sustainable way to consume fashion rather than buying\u00a0new items\u00a0for each new season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s driving the circularity of fashion,\u201d Alles said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what makes Rex\u00a0different from many others is that she offers\u00a0long-term\u00a0rentals. \u201cOn our platform, you can rent up to six months,\u201d she said. \u201cOn competitor platforms,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0daily rentals.\u00a0So\u00a0it gets really expensive if you want to rent for a couple week vacation. Or\u00a0maybe you\u00a0want a winter jacket for the season.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At TechCrunch Disrupt in October, Rex announced its first foray into the U.S. market. Alles said she had been a huge fan of TechCrunch and applied for the Battlefield competition, where she later won the top consumer\u00a0pitch\u00a0in the\u00a0competition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alles said she was surprised to win. \u201cThere were so many companies that had like thousands or hundreds of thousands of users; raised\u00a0[like]\u00a0$20\u00a0million in my category, and one [had] the lead actors from [the show] Silicon Valley,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, she found the experience \u201cawesome.\u201d Alles went up to every startup booth to introduce herself to other\u00a0founders, and\u00a0also attended some sessions as well as\u00a0partook in\u00a0networking.\u00a0Actually, that\u00a0was one of the biggest lessons\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0said she\u2019s learned as a founder \u2014 the importance of in-person interaction because it helps her connect with the community better.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now that Disrupt has passed, Alles said the company hopes to continue its expansion across New York and start\u00a0building out\u00a0a rental service platform to offer fashion designers and retailers looking to offer rental clothing to consumers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the\u00a0technology,\u00a0we have the audience,\u201d she said, adding that brands are also looking at ways to become more\u00a0sustainable, and companies like Rex let them do it.\u00a0\u201cI think things are getting better and people are becoming more aware of their impact.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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