Kellee Breaux’s life is a triangle: The 36-year-old lives in Newark, teaches full time at a school in East San Jose and runs a consignment boutique in Los Altos.
Finding time off is tricky.
“Sundays are my days to relax,” she said.
Most days, shoppers can find Breaux at Répéter, the State Street women’s consignment boutique she started with her sister Kara in 2005. The shop will celebrate a decade of business Saturday with a storewide 20 percent discount, a deal sweetened with offerings of champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
Breaux had always wanted to open a store, but it was a friend who inspired her to specialize in second-hand goods.
“I had never heard of consignment prior to meeting her, and I just found the concept very fascinating – and so I ran with it,” Breaux said. “I liked the idea that as a business owner, you don’t have a lot of overhead because the inventory is coming to you, so you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars going out to buy merchandise.”
The sisters settled on downtown Los Altos after locating an affordable space at 334 State St. and opened their doors May 1, 2005 – just three weeks after deciding to pursue the business venture. They lacked a business plan, a marketing strategy and any idea what to do should they fail to make money.
But downtown foot traffic proved persistent and within two years, the sisters found themselves in a position to upgrade from No. 334’s humble breezeway location
to a street-front spot two doors down at No. 308, site of a then-departing Italian paper and stationery store.
Kara left the business last year to pursue an accounting career, but Kellee remains at the helm, relying on a capable staff to fill in when she’s teaching physical education at Fischer Middle School in San Jose.
Selective stock
Répéter carries clothing, shoes, handbags and jewelry and specializes in trendy fashions popular among working women and stay-at-home moms between the ages of 25 and 55. Top brands include Marc Jacobs, J.Crew and Theory. She accepts maybe just 10 percent of what consigners bring in and turns away anything stained or torn.
“I’m very, very picky,” Breaux said. “I have 500 square feet, and I have to make the best use out of it. I don’t want this to be a thrift store per se – nothing wrong with a thrift store – but I’d rather it feel like a boutique, and I would rather it be finely curated items where people don’t have to schlep through stuff to get to the jewels.”
Mountain View resident Debbie McKee said she’s likely been shopping and consigning at Répéter “since day one” and instantly recognized Breaux as a savvy businesswoman with a “very chic little shop.”
“Kellee knows what she wants for her store and has very high standards and requirements from her consignees,” McKee said. “Her sense of style can be seen in the quality of items in her shop and in the store itself.”
Breaux’s consignees receive 40 percent of each item’s final sale price, perhaps a bargain for overzealous shopaholics drowning in a closet of clutter.
Like McKee, Los Altos resident Debbie Young has been a loyal Répéter client for close to 10 years. Her most recent find is an Yves Saint Laurent handbag she purchased for just a fraction of the retail price.
“After Répéter introduced me to the benefits of consignment, my closet is no longer overstuffed with clothing because I have a new shopping game: I sell and buy at Répéter and look fabulous all the time,” Young said.
And because Breaux donates anything that doesn’t sell to Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, consignees know they’re generating goodwill even when they’re not earning cash – Sacred Heart doesn’t resell clothing but simply gives it to those in need.
“I think it’s really important to think about what it is you’re buying, why you’re buying it – if there’s a purpose, if there’s a reason,” Breaux said. “And then the idea of someone passing it on to someone else, I think it just feels really good.”
Just like the shop’s website reads: “Reuse. Reduce. Recycle. Répéter.”
Répéter’s 10-year anniversary event is scheduled 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at 308 State St. For more information, visit repeterconsignment.com.
