The Poncey-Highland neighborhood is getting a new consignment shop for outdoor gear and apparel.
Secondwind Gear Shop is planned for 628 North Highland Avenue NE. Customers can expect equipment and clothes for biking, climbing, camping and other outdoor activities. A majority of the inventory is secondhand (gently used items in good condition), but new merchandise is sold as well.
The concept isn’t new to Atlanta; the brand has been operating as a mobile trailer since 2022, popping up around town at spots like the Grant Park Market.
Local co-owner Jason Seagle told What Now Atlanta that the time was right to expand into a brick-and-mortar space.
“When we started with the trailer, our thought was that we’ll have 90 percent of the inventory inside the trailer, pull a few things out, have a tent set up,” Seagle said said. “Now 90 percent of the inventory is outside the trailer.”
Secondwind first opened in Bozeman, Montana, in 1988. In addition to Atlanta, the brand now has independently owned and operated locations in Colorado and Arizona.
Originally from Atlanta, Seagle moved to Montana for school and became a regular at the shop. When Jason and his wife, Amanda, connected with Secondwind’s current owner Brad Baumann, the wheels started turning about bringing the concept to Atlanta.
They didn’t just connect over their love of the outdoors. It was Jason and Amanda’s cat, Marlene, that stole the show. Marlene first entered their lives when the two were driving to a friend’s wedding and they discovered a black seven-week-old stray kitten at a gas station in Missoula.
Marlene joined them on a visit to Secondwind in Bozeman, and the guys working behind the counter asked if they could play with her while Jason and Amanda shopped.
Fast-forward a few years later…
“We were back up there again, and we had Marlene,” Jason said. “The guy behind the counter wound up being Brad, the new owner. He was asking about Marlene. Amanda’s like, ‘We brought her here a couple years ago, somebody put her behind the counter.’ He said, ‘That was me.'”
They thought Atlanta, presently lacking an outdoor gear consignment shop, would be a great market for the concept. But it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, so going mobile seemed like a cost-effective, low-risk way to launch Secondgear in Atlanta.
“That’s where the cargo trailer came from,” Seagle said. “It’s been a great way to figure out different neighborhoods. People seemed to enjoy the cargo trailer concept popping up at farmers markets and breweries.”
The trailer has been brimming with inventory, requiring nearly two hours of set-up and two hours of tear-down time. Weather is another factor. When it rains, everything has to be dried out.
“There’s definitely issues and struggles around being a mobile consignment shop,” Seagle said.
They looked for a space for about a year before signing a lease at the North Highland Avenue spot. The space used to be occupied by Highland Row Antiques, which closed in 2022.
Secondwind Gear Shop will hopefully be open in mid-spring.
They seek to partner with more nonprofits, particularly those focused on conservation. When visitors come in to donate inventory, they can do it under a particular nonprofit’s name, and when that inventory sells, it benefits the nonprofit. During their time operating out of the trailer, they have used such a system to help benefit Horizons Atlanta, an organization that provides educational programs for underserved students.
“We’re really trying to push the concept of community consignment,” Seagle said.
Follow @secondwindgearshop on Instagram for updates.
