Consignment shops big business

By BY LYNN ATKINS Staff Writer <a href="mailto:lynna@

Posted: July 29, 2009 at 5:09 a.m.

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ROGERS — A handful of new businesses that have opened in Rogers have one thing in common, gently used merchandise. Consignment shops seem to be a big business during a lean economy.

New 2 You opened in a small store front in downtown Rogers in September, but by June it had moved to a larger location on the corner of Elm Street and Second Street.

Co-owner Cindy Borden said her customers enjoy the boutique-like shop.

"We try to have something from every price range," she said, "but it has to be almost new and in style."

Bordon and partner Delma Peterson will travel to pick up consignments, and work with suppliers in New York and California who send consignments from all over.

Although the clothes are mostly new, New 2 You deals in vintage jewelry, scarves and designer handbags. Also there are always some brand new items that have been consigned for various reasons, she said.

"We have lots of regular customers who prefer to do their shopping here because of the uniqueness," she said.

The Phase II consignment shop is even newer. Owner Martha Hughes got started in early June with an inventory that mostly came from family and friends. It's located in a shopping center at 2882 W. Walnut.

"We have mostly brand names," Mandie Davis, Hughes;

daughter, explained. They carry only women's clothes, from petites to plus sizes.

The store, she said, was something her mother always wanted to do.

The Pink Bag, at 1550 W.

Walnut, near USA Drug, opened in May. Owner Dawn Valdez has a background in fashion and chose the name because pink is her favorite color.

The building once housed her husband's mortgage business. When the economy took out his business, the couple realized they couldn't sell the building either, so Valdez decided to put it to use. They advertised for consignments for three weeks and ended up with so much merchandise, that they had to expand the store before it actually opened, she said.

The Pink Bag is also all women's clothing, and Valdez has a section devoted to maternity clothes. She'll also take the name of a customer looking for something special and call them if it comes in.

"Everyone is looking for a bargain," she said.

Not all the consignment stores in Rogers are new. Packie's Kids Kloset has operated for close to 15 years in three different locations around Rogers. It currently in a shopping center at 1896 W. Walnut.

Packie's carries children's clothes and as many toys and as much equipment as will fit in the store, owner Patti Cox said.

Cox doesn't believe the slow economy has helped her business.

"Everyone is shopping less,including consignment shoppers," she said. She's gotten some new customers in recent months, but also lost some long time customers.

Like the other consignment shops, Packie's has a clear policy when consignments are accepted. She keeps clothes for 120 days and they'll go through two mark downs. At the end of the time period, she donates the clothes to the Benton County Women's Shelter Thrift Shop.

If people want their consignments back, they have to come in and pick them up before the term ends, she said, but very few people want them back.

"Rarely is the good stuff left," Cox said, about sending back consignments.

Twice But Nice, another shop that specializes in kids, is about three years old and operates at Hudson Road, but it's not a consignment shop. Owner Pam Rust buys her merchandise out right. When she buys children's clothes, she always washes them before they get to the rack.

She also has an inventory of new baby equipment that she purchases by the truck load. It's all in perfect condition, she said, but in a few cases the boxes have been damaged.

Rust got into the gently used business when her granddaughter was born.

"I just went crazy buying baby things," she said. She ended up with so many baby things, that she sold some on eBay and the business slowly grew into a store.

Helen Pilkington has owned The Consignory on North Second Street with her husband since 2004, but the business is actually older than that. They bought an existing business and moved it to its present location.

When they moved, they bought another existing business and ended up expanding into furniture and decorative items.

When she takes furniture on consignment, it's always for a limited time period. That way there's always new stock for returning customers to look at, she said. Occasionally a consignor doesn't return for their furniture and she donates it to a good cause.

At first it looked like the slow economy would mean aboost in the consignment business, Pilkington explained, but that didn't happen.

"You can see where peopleare guarding their money," she said. "The same customers come in, but they don't buy as much."

Although she doesn't believe the economy is actually helping the consignment business, she suspects people think it is. That might explain the new shops that have opened in the last few months, she said.

News, Pages 1, 6 on 07/29/2009

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