Home / Belmar / Featured / General / Sustainability / New Belmar childrens’ discount boutique helps the environment and families
A new store has opened in Belmar that everyone should stop in and see. Normally, a childrens’ “discount boutique” wouldn’t warrant a post in BelmarGreen.” But there’s something very special about “Twice Upon a Time” and it strikes you the moment you walk through the door.
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. But as soon as 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 picky 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 the environment benefits too.
Lisa told me about an older couple who happened into the store recently. 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 were looking for. 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-ta
gs 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?”
But this may be the most important part of what Lynn and Lisa are doing. “Twice Upon a Time” isn’t simply promoting reuse and reducing the need to purchase new items — every second-hand store and consignment does that. What I found so impressive is how Lisa and Lynn are lifting an old concept to a whole new level, much the same way the auto industry re-invented the used car business (and increased the resale value of their products) by developing and marketing the concept of “certified pre-owned automobiles.” But here, Lisa and Lynn are applying the concept to goods that would likely otherwise end up either in a landfill or in a container to a third-world country. By creating an inviting store environment and boutique shopping experience that makes people feel really good about doing the right thing, they are promoting — and validating — the reuse of perfectly good items, helping to shift our culture away from the wasteful, acquisitive “keep up with the Joneses” kind of consumerism” of the last two decades that helped get us into the trouble we’re in — to a new era, where it’s cool to be thrifty and we can conserve our natural resources without feeling as if we’re sacrificing anything.
I think — at least I hope — that Lynn and Lisa’s “Twice Upon a Time” is a glimpse into our future. Over the next few years, the American economy is going to need to be remade. Our industries, businesses, households and our governments will all need to be retooled into smarter, leaner and more efficient operations.
The burden of that task is going to fall on a new generation of socially, environmentally and even culturally conscious entrepreneurs, who will recognize our current world economic, energy and environmental crises as opportunities. If Twice Upon a Time is any sign, I am optimistic that we Americans will adapt quickly and positively to the new energy and economic reality that lies ahead.
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 (and vaguely familiar) 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.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Way to go, ladies!!! I can’t wait to stop in and visit your exciting store. I am so proud to know and love you both since you were born. Congrats to you and “Twice Upon A Time”.
April 7th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I’m not the least bit surprised that my two beautiful and talented nieces have received such recognition and praise. I’ve visited your lovely boutique and I can say with certainty that each and every item in “Twice Upon a Time” is “twice as nice” — just like the two of you!!
April 9th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I went to twice upon a time….. the store is amazing! I bought a bunch of clothes; they were a great bargain. They had Roxy, Hollister, and Abercrombie clothes for a fraction of the real price! I’ll be sure to stop in there at least once a week!
age 11
April 9th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Someone told me about the great new store Twice Upon A Time, and boy were they right! I got a new outfit for under $20 bucks…Abercrombie jeans, and shirt(limited too). i would have regularly spent 4 times as much of what I paid. My mom also purchased some new baby clothes for my little sister Nicole who is ony a few months old. Ralph Lauren onesies and .50 items were available! this is my families favorite store! age 13
April 10th, 2009 at 11:41 am
With this cute shop, Lisa Ortenzio and Lynn Mastracola are businesswomen who offer a great cost savings to the community. In these tough economic times who isn’t looking for a deal on children’s clothes. And it’s not just clothes ! They carry strollers, cribs, toys, books and so much more !! Lisa and Lynn have impeccable taste and it shows in the overall asthetics, decor and inventory of “Twice Upon a Time.” No one will ever know that what you purchased it is not exactly new. It will be your little “Twice Upon a Time ” secret. Forget about Marshalls and TJ Maxx. Stop by the adorable “Twice Upon a Time” in Belmar for all of your children’s apparal needs. You only need to go once and you will be HOOKED !!