LOVING PRE-LOVED
WORDS and PHOTOS Joshua Brosnahan
This country is in love with pre-loved. With vintage and consignment clothing piquing wide-reaching interest in recent years and various rental dress companies and professional ‘op shops’ popping up – there’s been a collective embrace of all things pre-loved. It’s great for the wallet and the world.
Husband and wife duo Martin and Amanda opened To Be Continued in the middle of 2017. Sharing a long history in apparel, both worked at Selfridges in the UK, and Martin was involved in Ballantyne’s Contemporary Lounge; they then opened their former clothing store Honour & Obey.
Their latest venture To Be Continued is intentionally nestled in a decidedly residential area, on the corner of Bryndwr and Jefferys Road. The Fendalton Library and school are nearby. There wasn’t a huge push to be a High Street store, according to Amanda. The couple spied an opportunity to be a destination store, especially since feeling that some retail stores no longer had an appreciation for their customers.
“We wanted to be a place where locals could visit and a shop, somewhere that you could park right outside of, somewhere where the kids could sit outside with an ice cream or tie the dog up without any worries. I guess you could call it a word-of-mouth location.”
The store isn’t your typical second-hand store. It is minimal and uncluttered with a boutique feel.
Amanda mentions the best feedback is when someone visits the store for the first time, where it appears to be all new stock, and it smells surprisingly lovely and clean. According to Martin, not everything has to have a designer name attached to it.
“We look for items that are fashionable and classic. We sell anything from Zara, H&M, G-star to power brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes. They just don’t hang around for long!”
Son Monte is also in on the gig, supplying the store with key pieces of ‘rare, collectable, and immaculate’ American vintage.
Recently, To Be Continued opened a second store at GM Hair on Cashel Street. The appeal of being aligned with an iconic hair salon (formerly Ginger Meggs, for the uninitiated) was hard to pass up, according to Martin.
“I’ve known Mike and Glynis for almost 20 years. Amanda originally introduced me for a haircut, and by the end of the appointment, I had a real appreciation for what the salon stood for and loved the creative flair of Mike and the Ginger Meggs brand.”
After a few collaborations through pop-ups and additional locations, To Be Continued... Chapter Two complements the salon incredibly well with thoughtful design touches. Even a 1963 Victa Rabbit scooter recently found after 55 odd years is for sale in the store.
The pair encourage everyone to buy pre-loved.
“You’ll be surprised who’s jumped on the pre-loved fashion wagon.”