Buildings in downtown Evanston. Photo: Martha Logan, City of Evanston / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Second Time Around, a designer consignment chain, held a ribbon cutting at its downtown Evanston shop, 900 Church St., at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, 2014. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, 4th Ward Ald. Donald Wilson, City of Evanston staff, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Evanston were invited. The store offered refreshments and 20 percent off purchases from 4 to 8 p.m.
The shop itself had been open for months. A Patch report from September 2013 said it had opened Sept. 9 and sold pre-owned designer apparel, with 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. hours Monday through Saturday. Chain CEO Bill Soncini called Evanston the right home for the company’s 45th store in that report.
The chain
Second Time Around, often shortened to STA, opened its first shop outside Boston in 1973. By 2014 it ran more than 40 stores, many in busy shopping districts. It sells new and nearly new designer clothing and accessories on consignment at prices below retail. Racks in Evanston carried names such as Tory Burch shoes, Chanel blazers and Nicole Miller dresses.
Evanston was the company’s fourth Illinois store. The others were in Chicago, on Milwaukee Avenue, Southport Avenue and Armitage Avenue.
Elaine Kemna-Irish, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was excited about the assortment of gently used designer clothing.
The company is headquartered in Massachusetts. According to the 2013 report, the Evanston shop was open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays, in addition to its weekday and Saturday hours. The April event, with refreshments and a one-evening discount, gave city and chamber officials a chance to mark the opening publicly.
Downtown retail
The Church Street address is in the center of downtown Evanston, within the district Downtown Evanston manages. The chain was later renamed 2nd Time Around and closed its stores in 2017, according to the Boston Globe.
For the April event, the store’s own pitch was simple: a chance to try the racks for an evening at a discount, with city and chamber officials on hand to mark the opening.
Daniel Okafor covers business, startups and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
