Sustainable Fashion Comes to Lansdowne Place With Second-Hand Clothing Store

The Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region sells a lot of second-hand items and can add clothing to that list by opening a ReStyle store in Lansdowne Place mall last Friday.

(left to right) Christina Skuce, Habitat director of Philanthropy and Communications; Debbie Hinze, Operations Lead and Beth Burke, Logistics Supervisor. The store took over the property during Labour Day weekend and took less than a week to prepare its opening. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

(left to right) Christina Skuce, Habitat director of Philanthropy and Communications; Debbie Hinze, Operations Lead and Beth Burke, Logistics Supervisor. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

In addition to second-hand clothing, they also sell purses, shoes, hats, scarves and accessories with some items that have never been used.

"We are so excited to bring a sustainable fashion option into Lansdowne Place,” said Cristina Skuce, Habitat director of Philanthropy and Communications. “This provides a great thrifting option for men's, women's and kids' clothing for members of our community and another affordable shopping option for every member of your household."

The store took over the property during Labour Day weekend and took less than a week to prepare its opening. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The store took over the property during Labour Day weekend and took less than a week to prepare its opening. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The ReStyle store is the first second-hand clothing store in Lansdowne Place according to Skuce.

The idea of the store came back in April last year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic after the city ask Habitat to start accepting clothing donations since other places that accepted them were closed.

“If you think back to that time, people are at home, more times on their hands, people were doing a lot of organizing and decluttering and they had nowhere to drop stuff off because everything was closed,” explained Skuce. “So that's when we started opening our ReStores to accept those donations.”

Over 60,000 pounds of clothing was donated after the first three months of the Habitat accepting them.

The ReStyle store is outfitted with change rooms so customers can try out clothing before making a purchase. Photo by David Tuan Bui

The ReStyle store is outfitted with change rooms so customers can try out clothing before making a purchase. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The store was able to hire new staff and accept new volunteers to aid in the ReStyle’s opening.

Habitat is always looking for new volunteers to help in their ReStyle or ReStore facilities especially for high school students wanting to fill their mandatory 40-hour community service. High school co-op programs are also available through the non-profit organization.

“People have really embraced the second-hand shopping option and sustainable fashion and thrifting,” exclaimed Skuce. “It’s really exciting to see customers coming in and say, ‘I can't believe this is available second hand!’”

Proceeds from the ReStyle store support the Habitat’s home-building efforts in the Peterborough and Kawartha region.

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