Although Yoni Chesner was not as well-versed in fashion growing up, his affinity for designer clothing grew as he did. As a yeshiva student in his hometown of Baltimore, his first job in a bagel shop paid just $6 per hour. “I went to the clearance section at Ross,” he said, laughing.
Things seemed to change when he first visited Saks Fifth Avenue Company in Aberdeen, Maryland — a popular shopping destination for religious Jews. This visit changed both his style and his career trajectory. Chesner was just 19 years old when he first visited the store. The Saks Company store sells merchandise that is returned to Saks locations all over the country, and Chesner’s wheels started turning. “I bought a few designer sweaters there, and put them up on eBay,” he said. “Before I knew it, I turned $300 into $900.”
From there, Chesner began spending his days in Manhattan hunting for deals at sample sales, buying designer pieces and selling them online. He began to form relationships with distributors, so he and his wife, Chaya, decided to create a flash sale website: Amuze.com.
“In the beginning it was a disaster,” he said. “Customers were like, what is this thing? But we’ve turned it around since, we’ve built inventory through lots of channels, thank God, bli ayin hara.”
“We don’t have the customer who wants to walk into Chanel and buy a handbag at full price,” he says. “Yeah, you feel like a million bucks, they offer you champagne while you shop. But for us, we are giving the bargain, the thrill of the find. That’s our customer base.”
Amuze now has more than 150,000 users, many of whom are Orthodox. The brand has worked with many prominent Jewish influencers, such as Esther + Sasha, Man Repeller and more.
“We have real shopaholics on our site,” he says. “I have a customer who spent over $100,000 on our site this past year alone. Once someone finds out about us, they’re a customer. They see it’s the real deal, and they keep coming back.”
