City Starz consignment shop shuts at Modesto mall, sellers owed up to $100,000

City Starz was a consignment shop for shoes and streetwear at Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto, California. Suppliers handed over sneakers, shirts and other goods, and the store sold them for a cut of the sale. In mid-September 2024 the store closed abruptly, leaving the people who had stocked it unable to reach anyone or recover their inventory.

Owner Gabriel Ramirez blamed the closure on a business partner who he said failed to pay the mall's rent. The consignors were left holding the losses: one person said they were owed at least $100,000, a couple about $30,000, and roughly twenty others amounts of $3,000 to $5,000. Hector Gonzalez, who runs the streetwear resale outfit Bape 209, said he was owed $3,410. A former employee said dozens of people had come forward claiming they were owed money.

Ramirez said he would hate to file for bankruptcy and wanted to pay everyone back, while some of those affected said they planned to file a claim or a lawsuit. The Stanislaus County District Attorney's office had not responded to ABC10's inquiry at publication. For the consignors, the sudden closure of a store they had trusted with their goods left an open question of when — or whether — they would be paid.