Amid flowy white skirts and iced matcha lattes, Arroyo Grande-based thrift store The Haven held a soft opening for its second location in downtown San Luis Obispo on Saturday, Sept. 26.
The store moved into the former Fred and Betty’s location at 532 Higuera St., where San Luis Obispo Classical Academy operated a thrift store benefiting the school for 13 years. Alongside a small collection of their own clothing, The Haven co-owners Veronica Tagre and Morgan Reynolds sold remaining Fred and Betty’s merchandise at a 50% discount in the weeks leading up to the opening.
Tagre, 28, and Reynolds, 23, started The Haven with Reynolds’ parents, Jahi and Christina Edwards, in November 2023, according to its website. The store was originally known as Envy Me, which Tagre’s mother founded. Since rebranding, The Haven has built a following in Arroyo Grande, with about 12,200 followers on its Instagram account.
Although Fred and Betty’s has closed, The Haven San Luis Obispo plans to continue supporting San Luis Obispo Classical Academy by donating a portion of its proceeds to the school, according to The Haven’s Instagram.
The opening featured flavored lattes, matcha and coffee from local pop-up Tiny Cafe as shoppers browsed racks of secondhand clothing.
Catherine Samrick, a philosophy junior, visited the new store on opening day after previously shopping there during the discounted sales period. Samrick had visited Fred and Betty’s and had heard of The Haven’s Arroyo Grande location but never visited.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of everything I found,” Samrick said. “I feel like I found a lot of things I liked.”
As Samrick waited with an armful of clothes, she said she is curious if they are going to have more stock in the future once they become more established.
“I think the items I found here I liked more than when I was here when it was Fred’s,” Samrick said. “So I’ll keep coming back.”
Tagre and Reynolds plan to use their significantly larger San Luis Obispo store for a dedicated vendor section featuring local makers, pop-up markets and community events, including arts and crafts.
“It’s our first day ever at this location,” Reynolds said. “It’s giving us an idea of what it’s going to look like.”
Now that the San Luis Obispo location is closer to Cal Poly than the Arroyo Grande store, Tagre and Reynolds said they expect to see more student customers
“[Opening day] gave us a little taste of what the SLO vibe is going to be like,” Tagre said. “It’s definitely going off today. It’s very busy, very supportive. We just have a lot more work to do to keep up.”
The Haven is also accepting clothing from people looking to sell items, with no appointment needed. They will hold buying days every Saturday and on the second and fourth Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Sellers can bring up to 35 laundered items and receive up to 25% of the items’ value in cash or up to 35% in store credit for accepted items.
“We want to keep a consistent flow of clothes,” Tagre said. “We still have a couple more renovations to do, like adding racks and fixtures to allow more clothes to be put out there.”
Looking forward, Tagre and Reynolds are hoping to increase their reach to Cal Poly students by adding a closer location.
“We’re definitely wanting to cater to students around here,” Reynolds said. “It was kind of a trek to come out [to Arroyo Grande] from Cal Poly. But now that we’re closer, we can serve the community in a different way.”
