Downtown Auburn’s Genesee Street has become one of the more walkable stretches of the Finger Lakes region, lined with restaurants, brewpubs, and a historic theater, and tucked into that mix at 101 Genesee Street is Regenerations Consignment Boutique, a secondhand and locally made goods shop built around the idea that thrift is not a compromise but a virtue worth practicing on purpose. The shop leans into a simple guiding phrase, something close to being thrifty is a virtue, so be virtuous, and it uses that philosophy to shape everything it stocks, from gently used furniture to items crafted a few miles away by Cayuga County makers.
The inventory at Regenerations spans home furnishings, accent pieces, and home decor sourced through the shop’s consignment partnerships, meaning individual sellers bring in pieces they no longer need and the shop resells them on their behalf, keeping usable furniture and decor circulating locally rather than heading to a landfill. Alongside the furniture and home goods, shoppers will find artisan created items and gifts made by regional craftspeople, casual boutique clothing suited to everyday Auburn life, and a rotating selection of locally made soy candles and soaps that give the shop a distinct scent and character different from a typical thrift store. The mix of secondhand furnishings and small batch local goods under one roof is part of what distinguishes Regenerations from either a straightforward consignment furniture store or a standard gift shop. It tries to be a little of both at once, curated around sustainability and support for nearby makers rather than mass produced inventory.
Regenerations keeps a schedule built around the rhythms of downtown Auburn shopping, open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with additional hours available by appointment for consignors or shoppers who need to visit outside the posted window. That appointment flexibility matters for a consignment model, since sellers often need to schedule drop offs or pickups around their own work hours, and the shop’s willingness to accommodate that keeps its rotating inventory fresh. Because nearly everything on the floor comes from an individual consignor or a local artisan rather than a warehouse supplier, no two visits to Regenerations look quite the same, and regular customers often check in every few weeks specifically because the selection turns over so consistently.
Auburn itself gives the shop a built in customer base and a built in mission alignment. As the seat of Cayuga County and a city with a long manufacturing and reform history, Auburn has cultivated a downtown that rewards small, independently run storefronts, and Regenerations fits that pattern by keeping its focus tightly local rather than trying to compete with big box retailers on volume. Shoppers looking for one off home decor finds, a handmade gift, or an affordable way to furnish a room without buying new can walk Genesee Street, stop into the surrounding brewpubs and eateries, and treat a visit to Regenerations as part of a broader afternoon in downtown Auburn rather than a single errand. For anyone asking where to find secondhand furniture, locally made candles, and consignment clothing in one downtown Auburn storefront, Regenerations Consignment Boutique at 101 Genesee Street is that address, built around the belief that buying secondhand and buying local are two ways of practicing the same everyday virtue.
