Renée Flanders is feeling bullish on Seaside’s sense of style, and opens a consignment shop.

It was the height of internet shopping during the pandemic when Renée Flanders started consigning clothing online in January of 2021, and the business took off. She still keeps up an internet presence and just in the past couple of weeks shipped items to Oregon, New York and North Carolina, but in April opened a brick-and-mortar store called Generation Ave. in Seaside, and the physical store has quickly come to account for the majority of sales. It’s a bright space with a mix of statement pieces and everyday items. 

Flanders has experience in a variety of fields—basketball coach, photographer—but just a short stint in retail until age 22, after which “I told myself I was never working retail again,” she says.  

After that, the Pacific Grove native picked up a camera and started a portrait business. But after a few years, she wanted to branch out. “I found that while I loved portraiture, it limited me in creative freedom,” she says. The creative drive led her to fashion photography and styling photo shoots, specifically helping new models develop their portfolios for swimwear. 

In Flanders’ thinking, it all influenced her career path, even her bachelor’s degree in sports management. “I culminated all of these things into what is now this store,” she says. “It’s not one thing that led to this.”

Weekly: You don’t have a retail background. What principles are you using in running your business?

Flanders: A lot of it comes with building trust immediately between me and my customer. There isn’t much time that goes by in the store without me asking about family or laughing—that’s what is special about a small business. It’s different than being in a department store where it’s all sales, sales, sales—this is about relationships. 

Do you have a personal style that influences what you stock?

More than my own style, almost every piece in here is inspired by a family member. When I get an item, I ask myself: Would my husband wear this? Would my auntie wear this? I have a checklist of six or eight family members, so no matter how old you are, or what your style is, you will be able to find something here. 

My auntie loves florals—she wears pastels, spring colors all year long. My sisters-in-law love their heels and body-con dresses. My husband loves earth tones. My grandma loves sequins. My brother wears a lot of T-shirts. It’s all in here, but somehow it all makes sense. 

I am having this feeling post-shutdown that I have lost my sense of style. How do I get it back? 

I like to describe our styles as evolving. Through the seasons, our bodies change and our styles do too. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: How do you feel when you wear this item, not how do you look?

My kids [ages 6 and 8] really inspire me. They don’t just throw anything on, they think about it and they might say, I feel so cool, or I feel so pretty. People get really hung up on, “I only wear these,” but let’s try some other stuff on. It’s OK to give yourself permission.

How did you develop your initial inventory to start with? 

I have no problem asking people to look in their closets. My poor family, at one point I had like 26 boxes of clothes stacked up in our living room. 

Why did you decide to open a brick-and-mortar?

I have had experiences where I walked into shops and didn’t feel welcomed. It’s important to me that the entire community has a place where you could shop for Jimmy Choo and Prada, but it’s going to be next to a Ralph Lauren dress—and I’m not going to follow you around the store. 

I really wanted to provide a welcoming, safe space, particularly for the black and brown communities, to shop for high-end pieces. If it wasn’t me, who was going to do it?

In this era of internet sales platforms like Poshmark, is it hard to compete?

There is enough to go around for everybody. There are enough clothes, enough customers, and so many people who prefer an in-store experience. 

Where does the name come from?

Do you ever go to the mall or the store with someone in your family, and one person waits in the car? This isn’t that store—everybody gets out of the car and walks in together, families walk in together, and they can all find something. 

GENERATION AVE is at 1760 Fremont Blvd., Suite C1, Seaside. 71703957, generationave.com.