New Belmar Children’s Boutique Helps Families Save Money and the Environment, too!

A new store opened this Spring on Route 71 in Belmar that every mother and grandmother should stop by and visit. “Twice Upon a Time” bills itself as a “children’s discount boutique,” but that really doesn’t do justice to the store.

Whether due to the state of the economy or the store’s name, I confess to have been totally unprepared for much more than a typical second-hand store or consignment shop when I arrived to cut the ribbon on a sunny, snow-covered morning back in early March. But the moment I stepped inside this stylishly decorated and professionally merchandised shop, I literally stopped in my tracks and looked around to make sure I was in the right place!

Lining the walls are racks of beautiful children’s clothing, interspersed with shelves brimming with dolls and games and toys. Gathered in islands in the center of the store are larger items, like a high-end double-stroller and a play-pen on the day I was there.

As its name suggests, all of the store’s inventory was owned before –but it’s really hard to tell. And that’s not just because every item in the store has a professionally printed, bar-coded price tag with the store’s name on it. It’s hard to tell because nothing — and I mean, nothing — in the store looks like it has ever been used before! It was a fascinatingly contradictory experience to be in a store that looks and feels like a high-end boutique when you know that it is offering slightly used items. I was so taken by the experience, that I found myself asking dozens of questions of the owners, a friendly pair of sisters named, Lisa M. Ortenzio and Lynn K. Mastrocolo.

Lisa and Lynn explained that their store is not a consignment shop. They buy all of the stock in the store from parents (or grandparents) who have either slightly or never-used children’s items they no longer need, and would like to convert into cash. But before you go rifling through your kids’ closets and drawers looking for things you can offer them, keep this in mind: Because Lisa and Lynn pay for their inventory, they can afford to be very picky about what they buy. And judging from the store’s apparently flawless merchandise, they do a very a good job of choosing only the finest things.

Notwithstanding how selective they are, Lynn and Lisa have found there are more quality second-hand items out there than they can fit in their already well-stocked store. So, they’ve started keeping a list of items they would like to buy from people when their existing inventory runs low. They are also keeping a list of “wanted items,” gleaned from shoppers who have stopped in looking for a particular item the store might not have in stock. By comparing their lists, the sisters can help speed the process of moving an unused item out of someone’s closet and getting it in the hands of someone who needs it and will put it to good use. Everyone in this chain either earns or saves some money, and not incidentally, the environment benefits as well.

Lisa told me about an older couple who happened into the store shortly after it opened. They were looking to outfit their home for a new grandchild who would be visiting them from time to time. They wanted to get nice things, but it seemed pretty wasteful, especially in this economy, to buy brand new baby furniture and other items things when their new grandchild would only be visiting occasionally, and would soon grow out of them. By the time they had left the store, they had given Lisa and Lynn a list of things they needed. The sisters told me that before long they hoped to be able to post a “wanted list” of items on line, and encourage their growing network of “suppliers” to be on the lookout for quality used items that could be resold through “Twice Upon a Time.”

In addition to high-tech touches like an on-line “wanted list,” and the software that enables Lisa and Lynn to put those professional looking price-tags on every item in the store (Lynn casually explained they use Quickbooks’ “Point of Sale” software “), the owners of Twice Upon a Time are especially good at providing the high level of service and extra special attention to detail that makes a boutique stand out from other stores.

For example, in addition to keeping an eye out for things you are looking for, they will even arrange your purchases in a gift basket. Wait, a gift basket ? I can picture that some readers may be thinking to themselves, “It’s one thing to buy your grandchild a slightly pre-owned high-chair, but to give used items as a gift?”

Twice Upon a Time is located in the new, three-store center at the southwest corner of Sixteenth Avenue and Highway 71. Lynn and Lisa have adopted an apt slogan for their store: “Saving the planet. . . one item at a time.” Please stop in and say hello, and do your part to help them make our world — and Belmar — a better place.

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