Trader K’s to close permanently this spring

After an over two-decade-long run, Trader K’s on the Ithaca Commons will be closing permanently this spring. Owners Jay and Karen Sciarabba said they plan to close the discount clothing store on April 1, ending their long legacy on a high note.

Even though the first Trader K’s opened about 26 years ago, its origins go considerably farther back, to when Karen spent her winters in Arizona.

“[There are] stores out there called Buffalo Trade Exchange, which was similar to what we have at a smaller scale,” Jay explained. “She wanted to open up something like that eventually here in Ithaca, so she would go around to garage sales, Salvation Armies and pick the best stuff, buy it, and then if the store [was] closing, she would just get the free racks if they were giving free racks. She used to store all this stuff in her house.”

Jay and Karen first met around 1995, and it wasn’t long before Karen brought up the idea of moving all the clothes and supplies she’d collected into the Rothschild Building on State Street, which was owned by Jay’s father, Andy Sciarabba, retired partner of Sciarabba Walker & Co. Though Karen tried applying for a loan to give Trader K’s a starting boost, she was denied, so it was tough in those early stages.

“It started off with small and learning,” Jay said regarding the first year or so of being open. “We had a great mentor in my father, [who] directed us and was fair. And he’s like, ‘Listen, if you’re going to pay rent on my building, you’re going to pay the same amount of rent as anybody else. There’s no family stuff because if you’re going to make it in this world, you’re going to make it the right way and not get handouts.’ So, it was very tough on how we had to do business because we started off just learning.”

After just a year in business, Trader K’s doubled in size and inventory, and one year later, it had tripled in size. With such growth, it’s no wonder that after 10 years at the Rothschild Building, Trader K’s had outgrown its location and needed a new space, prompting the move to its current location on The Commons.

“We moved the whole store in one night.” Jay recalled. “We closed on a Saturday night at 6, and we reopened in a new location at 11 the next morning and moved every piece of clothing and rack with family members up and down The Commons.”

Jay and Karen even opened a second location — Trader K’s 2 — in Lansing, though it was only open for a few years before it closed.

When the pandemic first hit the county, Trader K’s — like most businesses — had to shut down. But even that didn’t faze the business much, as Jay and Karen saw plenty of traffic after reopening just a couple of months later.

“The malls weren’t open yet,” Jay said. “Destiny [USA] didn’t have a lot of stores because corporate stores weren’t open. Business wasn’t hurt by … the pandemic. … Because it’s a pedestrian mall, people could be outside. So, I think that made it easier, having it on The Commons and not having an inside location, where people could get out, get fresh air and then pop in.”

Whether before or during the pandemic, Jay and Karen have prioritized making Trader K’s a “destination,” Jay said. To that end, the store has attracted folks from all over the state to bring their clothes, for which Jay offers cash on the spot if the items have high resale potential. Jay said they pride themselves on the variety they’ve been able to offer over the years.

“We try bringing in the higher [end] and nicer clothing at lower prices so Ithaca could have a broad range to shop for,” Jay said. “We’re lucky with Cornell and Ithaca College that we have …. students that have clothes from Europe and China and Asia and all that, [and] they [bring] to us what you can’t find in our malls. And this gives the community or surrounding communities a chance to find stuff that they’re not going to find around the area.”

With the business’s many years of success and no signs of slowing down, many people have been “shocked” at the news that Trader K’s is closing soon, Jay said. But, as he explained, he and Karen prefer to close it now than see it fizzle into obscurity or be taken in a different direction by a new owner.

“[We] contemplated that, if someone came in and raised prices by 30%, didn’t have the quality of service we had, didn’t have the quantity, our name is still associated with that,” Jay said. “And I think because we were successful, we decided, ‘Listen, let’s end it at being successful and not having it run through someone else that just wants to take it a different direction.’ [If] they want to do that and they rent my space, they can do whatever they want with somebody else’s product.”

Jay added that he and Karen simply got tired of running the business, and the increased construction downtown was already making it more difficult for customers to bring in their clothing.

“Twenty-six years is a long time to do something,” Jay said. “And the tiredness factor was not due to the business. I think it was due to the external forces — the construction, the pandemic. And I think the pandemic gave us time to sit back and see where we wanted to go with our lives. And at that time, I think it was, with my son being away at school, being able to travel to see him most weekends to play hockey.”

Still, Jay knows that Trader K’s closing is bittersweet, as the business has received lots of community support over the past two decades.

“That’s the hardest part, I think, of us having to make this decision,” Jay said. “We literally clothe babies all the way to them having their own babies. So, it’s 26 years. So, I had a mother who had triplets and I clothed them when they were [kids], and now, those kids are having babies. So, it’s amazing to see that. And it’s been so positive throughout.”

As far as what’s next for Karen and Jay, Jay said the future is a bit uncertain, but overall, they want to spend more time with family. Jay also plans to rent out Trader K’s space, as well as continuing to rent the other properties he owns on The Commons like the Waffle Frolic building and 218 E. State St.

“Our next step is continuing to be landlords,” Jay said. “We’re at that age now where we’ve done all we can with our business we want. And it’s not like we’re going to sit back and not do anything. But there’s always family we want to be with, take care of. But no business is on the horizon.”

For now, Trader K’s remains open its regular hours with storewide discounts ahead of its closing. Visit the store in person at 119 E. State St. or online at traderks.net.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to them at editorial@vizellamedia.com.