It is during this time of year that Ellen LaRoque Cleveland’s girls eat a lot of take out and in Debbie Conner and Melissa Shorten’s household the husbands take over all of their household duties, says Roanoke.com.
For about six weeks in the fall and spring, these two sets of moms-turned-entrepreneurs burn the midnight oil. They spend their days, evenings and weekends pricing children’s clothes, hanging frilly dresses on hangers and displaying baby cribs and strollers.
The moms run two short-term children’s consignment sales less than a mile apart from each other in Southwest Roanoke County. Both sales are growing so rapidly that the owners may have to find larger spaces in the future.
These nearly identical enterprises target the same customers, selling used boys and girls clothing, starting at infants up to children size 16 or teenagers. The selection also includes toys, baby equipment, home decor and maternity clothing.
Though these nine- to 10-day sale events emerged well before the nation’s economic downturn, these local moms clearly have tapped into a swelling cohort of parents who want to sell their young children’s barely worn clothing and baby equipment, and shop for inexpensive finds.
Children’s clothing stores were one of the first resale concepts to emerge in the United States, though lately, furniture has been the fastest growing segment of this industry, according to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. The rate of new resale stores has increased by 7 percent a year, largely because the startup costs are low compared with traditional retail.
Also, these kinds of businesses may be less risky, because the owners do not invest in a storeful of merchandise ahead of time, said Adele Meyer, executive director of the association.
Screenshot from Lauren’s Friends and Alex