July 5, 2005

Designer duds are getting a second life in Portsmouth with the opening of Second Time Around.

If the name seems familiar, it is. There are six Second Time Around stores in Massachusetts — two on Newbury Street in Boston, two in Harvard Square, one in Wellesley and one in Newton.

The chain is owned by Jeff Casler, who, with the help of long-time employee Angela Drew (a York, Maine, native and Northeastern University grad¬uate), identified Portsmouth as a prime location.

Drew said she moved to Kittery, Maine, after working for Second Time Around for seven years while attending college and living in Boston.

She loved the store so much that, even after the move, she kept working there two times a month. Eventually, after exploring her career opportunities on the

Seacoast, Drew approached Casler about the possibility of opening a store closer to her home.

“He told me to look into it, and I did. The space and the rent were right, so he decided to do it,” she said.

The store is a mixture of new and used goods (rnostly for women, but some are for men) with a focus on reselling con¬signed designer merchandise. The used merchandise comes from any one who wants to re-sell like new clothing and split tile profits with the store, and the new merchandise comes from buyouts that Casler gets from boutique stores wanting to clear out old merchandise.

“There are cute different designer things for half the price,” Drew said.

The store opened Friday. June 24, in tile former Tonic location. The hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and 11 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s hours are 12 to 6 p.m. Call 433-0200 for details.

- Natalie Christenson