‘Academy has been a game-changer for us’

Now more than ever, mindful shoppers are into So Over It.

The Winnipeg luxury consignment store moved to Uptown Lofts, the former Academy Uptown Lanes at 394 Academy Rd., in February 2025. Since then, revenue has doubled and the staff count has quadrupled, according to co-founders Jordan Blair and Rachel Murphy.

Now, the 35-year-old entrepreneurs are preparing to open a second store.

So Over It Contemporary will be located next door to the current space and will offer a wider range of contemporary labels and a larger selection of vintage items than its luxury-focused counterpart.

The 2,000-square-foot space is scheduled to open mid-March.

“I think that the increase in revenue and the growth spurt that we’re seeing is 100 per cent correlated with consumers caring about what they’re buying,” Blair said. “The whole purpose of this new store is to create even more accessibility, because we’re seeing the younger generation, too, really focused on quality and price.”

Childhood friends who were born two days apart, Blair and Murphy started So Over It Luxury in 2017 as an expression of their passion for sustainability and circular fashion.

Since then, So Over It has marked itself as the city’s only luxury consignment shop, selling designer brands like Chanel, Prada and Hermes at lower prices. It’s attracted consignors from across Canada and customers around the globe.

The business occupied a retail space on Corydon Avenue for four years before moving to its current 2,600-sq.-ft. digs. It employs 20 people.

“Being on Academy has been a game-changer for us,” Blair said.

She and Murphy have been dreaming about opening So Over It Contemporary since at least 2020, and spent 2025 looking at various retail spaces.

When women’s clothing store Beyond the Alley Boutique closed at the end of December, the business partners jumped at the chance to take over the space.

So Over It Contemporary will carefully curate its offerings from around 200 brands, including Aritzia, Citizens of Humanity and Ganni.

Designer denim that sells for $600 new will be priced from $30 to $100, meaning shoppers who may not be able to afford the luxury items So Over It has become known for will be able to find something, the co-owners said.

“This entirely new market will be saving up to 90 per cent on these brands,” Blair said, adding people who consign items at So Over It Contemporary will be able to use their credit at So Over It Luxury and vice versa.

The new store will be decked out with secondhand furniture and will also serve as a space where So Over It employees can hold seminars to educate school groups and the general public about sustainability.

Every year, 92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced globally — a number that could increase to 134 million tonnes by 2030. Production doubled from 2000 to 2015, while the duration of garment use decreased by 36 per cent, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

Meanwhile, 11 per cent of plastic waste comes from clothing and textiles, with only eight per cent of textile fibres in 2023 made from recycled sources.

So Over It Luxury has repurposed 30,000 items, Blair said, adding the new store will allow the entrepreneurs to triple that number.

Buying secondhand has become increasingly popular in recent years, said Sarah Jay, a fashion director and sustainability consultant in Toronto.

She attributes the rise in popularity to growing awareness of the fashion industry’s impact on people and the planet — as well as people watching how they spend their money as the cost of living rises.

“We are producing and consuming clothing at unsustainable rates,” Jay said. “Our closets are overflowing.”

One of the best things consumers can do, she said, is donate items they no longer use or bring them to a consignment boutique.

“Not only is there the opportunity to recover some of your costs but it’s part of what I would call responsible streaming of your clothes and making sure they … have the best opportunity of being used again.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca