It’s official: Keeks (the company) is old enough to drive!! Sweet 16, baby!! Let me start off by saying we are SO grateful for you, our customers. A staggering number of small businesses fail; roughly 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years and only 35% make it past the 10 year mark. Without you, we would not still be here, so thank you x infinity!!

I could chat for hours about the history of Keeks, but I’ll try to keep it brief (ish). My dad, Mark, is the self-proclaimed (and maybe actual) “King of Used.” By the early 2000s he had founded 3 buy/sell/trade businesses: CD Warehouse, Movie Trading Co. and EntertainMart. Always conceptualizing, he wanted a similar business model that catered more towards women but did NOT involve sizes.... and thus, Keeks was born! I was working as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs at the time so my dad reached out to a former colleague, Chris*, and they began to seed inventory and opened the first Keeks location in Plano’s Collin Creek Mall in late May of 2010. (*If you have ever submitted a bag to sell via our online form you’ve most likely corresponded with Chris!) Our logo was Curlz font. Our colors were purple, teal, black and white. Our inventory consisted mostly of Coach and Michael Kors with a smattering of Betsy Johnson, Furla, Tommy Hilfiger and the *tiniest* bit of Louis Vuitton. The first Keeks looked VERY different than it does today, but it was a start!

In 2011, I left my corporate job at Goldman to join my dad in business and never rarely looked back! We opened a second Keeks in Vista Ridge Mall in 2012 and ultimately closed the Collin Creek location. Around 2013 we procured a large batch of pre-loved Louis Vuitton and merchandised it at Vista Ridge. MUCH to our surprise it sold like hotcakes! We bought more… and sold more… and began to think that higher-end pre-owned luxury had legs! We opened our first non-mall Keeks in 2014 at The Arbors on Preston Road and rapidly expanded from there. Parks Mall in Arlington. North East Mall in Hurst. Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. Firewheel Town Center in Garland. A store in Southlake. Even a store at Barton Creek Mall in Austin!! By this time, my husband Robert, had joined the business as well, and anecdotally would see some of the same customers at different stores as he was driving around delivering inventory and supplies. With so many small locations, we were cannibalizing ourselves a bit, so in 2018, we consolidated and opened a MUCH bigger store in Plano. 8 years later that store is still going strong, but even it has changed a TON since we opened. We have added a tremendous amount of inventory and gone higher end (sadly no longer selling Coach or Michael Kors). We have added product categories such as shoes, jewelry, belts, and the highest-end Birkins. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs (for example, closing for 6 weeks during COVID was not ideal for business), but we have grown a ton as a business and as people. At Keeks we believe in making “little bets” and the “law of unintended consequences;" we are always willing to try new things and see what happens! In my experience, running a business boils down to problem solving, pivoting when things don't go as expected and trying to have fun along the way.

The last 16 years have been a tremendous learning experience and growth journey, and I cannot wait to see what the next 16 years bring!! (besides my 50s LOL!) Thanks for being along for the ride – we wouldn’t be here without you!!

All my love and gratitude,

Kristen