Redo Consign & Redesign

Your HGTV in Santa Cruz

By Rosie Alexander

Curated with the perfect mix of trendy and antique furniture and home decor, walking into Redo Consign in Santa Cruz is an HGTV dream.

Around every corner you expect to see Joanna Gaines exclaiming over an antique sign or raw edge table. As you walk around the open floor plan, you can visualize placing each unique piece in your home. Under the sparkle of chandeliers, you know you could spend hours looking at these treasures.

Robin Cross is the founder and owner of Redo Consign & Redesign. She had noticed a lack of furniture consignment shops in the Santa Cruz area and loved the idea of recycling furniture and home decor, reusing pieces that might otherwise be discarded.

In 2006, Robin found a 1,500-square-foot warehouse for rent in Scotts Valley, and opened her first store with a grand total of five pieces of furniture. She would roll up the warehouse door to the open air, and wait for people to come. By 2012, Robin had outgrown her Scotts Valley warehouse and needed a larger space.

She found a home for her store in Santa Cruz near Dominican Hospital and Marshall’s. Today, her store is thriving.

Not only is it thriving, but Robin has been overjoyed to turn her enterprise into a family business.

Her daughter, Ciera Zucker, now 31, joined her after graduating from college. Although at first she was on a career path in biology, Ciera quickly fell in love with the customers and the furniture business. Ciera has a fire in her belly for growth and improvement, which Robin welcomes with open arms.

“Ciera has been the best thing that happened to the shop,” Robin says, explaining her daughter has fresh ideas, patience, and is whole-heartedly invested in the store.

When COVID-19 regulations forced Redo Consign to close, Ciera took the bump in the road in stride. She used the opportunity to completely redesign the store.

During the three months of closure, the floors were steam-cleaned and sealed and everything was deep cleaned, with the furniture now in a brand-new layout.

The flow of the store became more open and airy, and you are able to walk around the entirety without ever feeling claustrophobic or crowded.

Robin says Ciera is a great addition to the team, because two of them have different tastes. Ciera likes the small trendy things, and Robin likes the big historic items. Robin has a few favorite items she loves to keep in stock.

Her favorites are mid-century modern tables, or the raw edge tables (she can’t decide), but she also has a soft spot for the vintage rugs from the ‘30s. Since each rug is hand-made and vegetable-dyed, no two are ever the same.

Since reopening in June, there is a limit of five people inside the store at a time, and masks are required.

Redo Consign also has a website, where people can browse through the pieces available and call to inquire. You can also call to make an appointment outside of business hours to see a piece privately.

One unique thing about Redo Consign is that you can take a piece of furniture home for a 24-hour “test drive” to see if it works in your home. If it doesn’t work, Robin and Ciera will take it back and sanitize it before putting it back on display. Due to COVID, right now you cannot “test drive” anything upholstered because it’s harder to clean.

Walking into Redo Consign, you can feel the love that Robin and Ciera have for the shop, and you can imagine the family history in each piece of furniture.

Robin says, “I love the histories, I love the stories” of the antique pieces.

You can see the history, the life of the people who owned it before. The history of a chair or dining table is what makes it special, and the love in this family-owned shop is what gives it a second life. n

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Redo Consign is at 1523 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz, near Marshall’s. Hours are Monday though Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone: (831) 439-9210. Website: www.redoconsign.com