Pittsfield Consignment Shop Offers Infant, Maternity ItemsBy Joe Durwin, Pittsfield Correspondent
08:11PM / Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | |
 The new consignment shop offers wide variety of quality secondhand items for babies and new moms. |
A colorful corner at Kikking Kidding Around Consignment store on North Street. The shop dedicated to infant and maternity items opened this week. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Downtown's newest entreprenuer hopes to carve out a retail niche in consignment sales in the Berkshires, offering merchandise geared to new and expecting parents.
Kidding Around Consignment's owner, Jennifer Haven-Lunt, appeared to already find herself fairly busy with foot traffic during a soft opening Tuesday afternoon prior to North Street's 3rd Thursday festivities.
Haven-Lunt says she grew up around secondhand sales, from tag sales to a Lenox consignment shop owned by a close friend of her mother, but her interest in having her own shop began after the birth of her daughter.
"I would do the consignment sale they have in Lee twice a year, and I would just get really excited when that would roll around every six months," said North Street's newest shopkeeper. "I realized I'm good at it, I have an eye for it, and this is just something I want to do."
Kidding Around's owner believes one of the key features of the store is its maternity section.
"It's kind of an untapped resource around here," said Haven-Lunt. "I had to go to Holyoke Mall myself."
Kidding Around will sell clothing and other relevant items on consignment for a cut of 40 percent, a fairly standard proportion for consignment. Those wishing to put merchandise in her shop are asked to call to make an appointment to bring in their wares, which if accepted will sell at the shop for an eight-week cycle, after which if they go unsold the owners can come pick them up.
Among the shop's offerings are a variety of attractive handmade goods, representing the crafts of nine local artisans so far.
Haven-Lunt said she had already had quite a few customers walk in within the store's first few hours Thursday, with two more who entered while she was being interviewed. Dozens more were seen coming and going later in the evening as 3rd Thursday got into full swing.
Kidding Around is open 10 to 5, Tuesday through Saturday, at 397 North St. in the Lloyd Building. While the store opened to the public Thursday, Kidding Around officially celebrated its grand opening Tuesday, Aug. 21.
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