Another young entrepreneur has taken the plunge and opened a retail shop in the Lismore CBD adding to the growing number each month.

Yesterday, we announced SOS Phone Repairs has reopened on Molesworth Street and recently Kystle Manshanden has opened Eclectic Dreams Clothing & Accessories on Club Lane, just down from the outdoor seating at the Bank Cafe.

Krystle's background is in psychology and case management and was working from home in her last job.

"I just wanted to do something a bit more creative," Krystle told the Lismore App, "I wanted to open a shop that would look nice and people would have somewhere to shop."

"Eclectic Dreams sells environmentally friendly vintage clothes but at an affordable price so that most people in town can afford to at least buy one item. The idea is to keep my prices in line with what the community can afford, especially post floods."

"I just wanted it to be a secondhand store that feels new. So, I have spent a lot of money on fitting it out and making sure that the shop looks nice and smells good. I wanted to make it a nice place to come in and say hello and maybe buy something while people are here or maybe not."

This is Krystle's first foray into the clothing retail sector.

"I've worked in hospitality and food retail but that's it, never clothing retail, so this is all quite new for me."

"I was spending time with my friend who is quite a good op shop/vintage shopper and she's always finding new things. She lost everything in the flood but her clothing collection is still amazing. I remember going to her house one day and neither of us were really in particularly good moods, but she was like just try this on and put it with that."

"I thought if we can do this in our spare time, there's a market to help people dress for different body types. I just feel that not everything looks good on everyone, so the idea was just to get different bits and pieces and put together outfits for everyone for all different body types, skin tones and genders."

"I guess the other idea for starting the business was to help women because I think women's weight can fluctuate a lot, especially after having kids. So, the idea is to help everyone feel good in their own skin and sort of unleash some creativity if they want to or just find more of a basic outfit because I worked in the corporate world for many years, so not everyone can sort of dress you know, really loud and colourful for their day to day work."

Eclectic Dreams' second-hand/vintage clothes are for all shapes and sizes, male and female with non-binary clothing to be added very soon.

"I've got sizes up to a 22 and bigger if I can get it. I'm trying to get clothing for everyone. I've had ladies in their 30s and older ladies as well."

"I want to start selling clothes that are made locally as well. And I'd like to get into repurposing clothes because a lot of the secondhand and vintage stuff is quite small. People tend to get rid of clothes that they no longer fit into or grow out of and not many of us can really fit into a size six. So, there's lots of beautiful stuff that I've come across but not a lot of people can wear it. I'd like to take those items and repurpose them so that more people can wear it and so that everyone feels comfortable in their clothes and their own skin. That's that's my goal."

"I'd like to have a non-binary rack as well because a lot of people these days don't really identify as male or female. That's another thing I want to work towards, making Eclectic Dreams LGBTQIA+ friendly."

"I want to get to know different people in the community. This is quite a small space but I'm trying to make it a store for everyone, as much as I can. I just want to help everyone find clothes that they feel comfortable in."

As for the name Eclectic Dreams?

"I just liked the word eclectic when I was at uni. I had a friend who was a music student and we'd piece together outfits and she said, Oh, that looks great together, it's really eclectic. I never really heard the word before. Dreams just came from the iconic band Fleetwood Mac, that I really like."

Eclectic Dreams Clothing & Accessories is open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm.

Pop in and say hi to Krystle and see what clothing she has to offer as well as help another new Lismore business.

You will find Eclectic Dreams down Club Lane off Molesworth Street, just down from the outdoor seating at the Bank Cafe.