New consignment store opens in Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD – Looking for a good bargain?

Kidding Around Consignment, a new shop on North St., which opened just a week ago, offers good quality baby, toddler and children’s clothing and equipment,  handmade babies’ quilts,  children’s books, maternity clothes and much more.

The shop is located at 397 North St., across the street from St. Joseph’s Church.

The owner, Jennifer Haven-Lunt, seeks more people who have excellent quality items to consign.  The way it works in consignment is first, people bring merchandise in tip-top shape. If it sells in the shop, the consignor gets 40 percent of the asking price and the shop gets 60 percent.

It’s a great way to recycle items one no longer needs but that still have a lot of use in them and, at the same time, make a profit.

Call and make an appointment

All potential consignors need to call ahead of time and make an appointment, Mrs. Haven-Lunt, a young woman with a very pleasant personality, said. She will go over all the ins and outs of consigning merchandise, check the items to see if they are spotless and almost new, tag them and them put them out for customers to see.

A Pittsfield native and graduate of St. Joseph’s High School, the owner of the new shop now lives in Mill River, near Sheffield. She first thought of opening a shop in south county, checked rents and found them to be very high.

Then she started looking at Pittsfield as a possible place for a shop. She saw that such a shop was, indeed, needed.

Her mother, Cindy Haven, still lives in the city and will be helping, as needed, in the shop.

She saw a sign in the window of the current location.  It was a perfect 1,400-square foot space, the rent was affordable and the rest is history.

Shiny wood floors and blue walls

Inside of Kidding Around Consignment, the wood floors gleam and walls are painted a calm, serene shade of blue.

Outfits of all kinds hang neatly from hangers on racks along the sides and more merchandise is ready for perusing on shelves.

Larger items such as bouncy seats and other baby equipment, line the middle of the room. There’s even a train table set up to occupy the attention of little guests while their mommies shop.

To date, the newly-opened shop has 12 consignors but there’s room for many, many more.

Kidding Around Consignment also carries new craft items such as colorful and beautifully-sewn baby quilts by Patricia Nourse of Monterey.

Another person, who is a Pittsfield native but now lives in California and owns a business called Knit, Pick and Crochet, has crocheted dresses for sale.

One consignor, who owns Just Sew Kids, has dresses for sale, and another has provided little girls’ earrings, hair clips and rings.

The owner of Alabaster Crest of Sunderland will be consigning beaded bracelets, Mrs. Haven-Lunt said.

There are not a lot of options for handmade baby items in Pittsfield so the new shop fits the bill.

Mrs. Haven-Lunt said she knew her whole life she wanted to have her own store.

All seasons, all the time

All seasons of clothing can be brought in any time since there is a huge basement beneath the shop for storage. If off-season items come in, Mrs. Haven-Lunt asks they be placed in plastic bins for easy storage.

She credits Jason Nocher of Adams, a carpenter, with making the store’s large handicapped accessible countertop with wainscoting, putting up all the shelves and making the maternity room with a dressing area.

“He is incredible,” she said, especially since the walls are a combination of “cement and brick.”

Maternity clothes will also be consigned and customers can try them on ahead of time to make sure they fit.

Nothing junky will be accepted on consignments, the shop owner said.

Children’s books, good quality wooden toys and all kinds of baby equipment are all wanted and needed.

Mrs. Haven-Lunt puts merchandise into stylish brown bags with the store’s sticker on the sides. It’s one of the many personal touches that make the new store special.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on August 30, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry