1st Class Seconds celebrates second year of opening

1st Class Seconds is owned and operated by retired SRCS staff members Beverly Lazore and Karen White. They are a gently used clothing store that opened their doors at the Akwesasne Gas Log Cabin building on Nov. 12, 2009 and will be celebrating this year with a one-day 25% off sale that Saturday. They have also recently changed to their winter hours of 11:00am-5:00pm Monday-Friday and 12:00-5:00pm Saturdays.

“When we look back to when we first started we can’t believe how much clothes we were able to fit into that small space,” said White talking about their first location in the smaller room in the building. “It felt like we were more of a boutique.”

Making use of every inch of the smaller location proved to be a challenge that these two women met with class. From infant clothing to adult sizes for both men and women; Lazore and White work diligently to wash, mend, sew on buttons and make other necessary repairs to restore life into the donated items. Since all of the clothing has been donated to them they are able to keep their prices low and their customers can walk away with a great wardrobe for less than $20.00.

“When we first started we visited different places to see how clothing displays were arranged,” said Lazore of planning for their start-up. “We ended up hiring someone to build custom clothing racks to be able to hold all of the clothes we’d been given.”

The original idea for the gently used clothing store began from work White and Lazore did with the ‘Coat Closet,’ which was organized then by Felicia Jacobs. The idea was to make sure that there was everything available for children in the elementary school to be outfitted for winter. It had started small with winter jackets and eventually expanded to include sneakers and snowsuits for those that were having trouble affording them.

“We were both approaching our retirement and we just started dreaming,” said White of their plans for retirement. “It is pretty neat how people find items that remind them of what they used to wear and had loved and then they try it on and it fits!”

A majority of the clothing donated to 1st Class Seconds is from White and Lazore’s children and other family members. They have also received donations from their previous co-workers at Salmon River and are very appreciative of everything that has been given to them.

“This must be what we were meant to be doing,” said Lazore. “We look at this more as a community service because we don’t do this to turn a profit.”

When 1st Class Seconds had first moved into the larger room within the building both White and Lazore had worried that it was too big of a space for them. They had it quickly filled with the clothes that they had stored for each season. This is a great location to look for clothes for anyone going back into the workplace. White and Lazore enjoy working to find the perfect outfit for those going to an interview. Carrying sizes up to 5X they have a steady clientele from the surrounding areas with some traveling as far as St. Regis Falls and Glens Falls.

1st Class Seconds has also started to carry jewelry made by local artist Lacey Jae Herne. While scouting garage sales they stumbled upon Herne’s work and found it to be a very unique style and at a very reasonable price. There jewelry is made from Fimo, a clay-like material that once formed into the desired shape is baked to harden. Herne creates beautiful rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets that are all prominently showcased at 1st Class Seconds.

“We think it is great to feature this young female artist,” said Lazore. “She was a former student of Salmon River and we are so proud of her. We hope that one day she will have her own store to sell her jewelry in.”

Besides donating clothing, Lazore and White’s family also help out a lot around the store. Lazore’s daughters Michelle Mason and Sheri Herne both stop in regularly to assemble outfits to display around the store. They also help to scan through magazines and catalogues to make sure that what they are carrying are in line with the modern fashion trends.

1st Class Seconds has a great atmosphere and often customers are impressed at not only the quality of the clothing, but also that when you first enter the store how it doesn’t smell like a typical vintage store. They present a great first impression and work hard to ensure that their customers leaving are dressed for success. Every time you visit the store it is like being there for the first time because they turn over their inventory so fast. If you are in the neighborhood of the Akwesasne Gas Log Cabin building on State Route 37 be sure to stop in and browse around, you’ll be glad you did. For more information contact 1st Class Seconds at 518-358-4620.