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Karen Early reaches over her son, Logan Early, 3, while looking at a foosball table Sunday during The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe consignment sale at the Mike Horn Unit of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club at 3415 Buckland Square in Heritage Park. Early said they shopped Saturday too. “I’m looking for bargains,” she said. “I’m going to call (Logan’s) dad to see if we can have it.” Photo by John Dunham, M-I |
By Beth Wilberding, Messenger-Inquirer
Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 12:03 AM CDT
Aisles of brightly colored children's clothing were packed as families browsed for good deals.
Area residents had come out for sales Sunday afternoon at The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe, a twice-yearly consignment sale co-owned by sisters-in-law Jennifer Higdon and Stephanie Higdon.
By 1 p.m., there were already long lines at the registers. The sale was Saturday and Sunday at the Mike Horn Unit of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club. It was the sixth one the sisters-in-law have held.
"This has been our biggest and best sale yet," Jennifer Higdon said.
The sisters-in-laws said the economy was one reason The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe did so well this year -- though some people asked Jennifer Higdon if she worried that the economy would keep shoppers away.
"This is the kind of business that thrives during these times," she said. "We have even better merchandise."
Consignors earn 70 percent of the sale price. Owensboro resident Michelle Love and her 10-year-old daughter, Jesse, have participated in every The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe sale.
"I liked the whole idea of it," Michelle Love said.
They had 800 items consigned for this year's sale.
 Love's daughter volunteers during the sale, and she has her own items on consignment. Jesse opened her savings account with the money she earned from the first sale they participated in.
Besides clothing for children and teenagers, the event featured toys, baby items, household furniture and electronics.
Though some shoppers said the economy factored in their decision to look for bargains, others, such as Brenda Evans of Owensboro, said the economy wasn't a factor. Evans said she has shopped at the sale in the past and comes to look for deals.
"(There's) just a big variety in one place," she said.
Susie Gronseth of Owensboro spent the afternoon shopping for boys' clothes for her son. Many of the items on sale Sunday were half-off.
"Overall, it's pretty good," she said. "I thought some of the prices were really high (on Saturday), so I came back today."
Belton resident Amie Cain heard about the sale for the first time this year. She was shopping primarily for her son.
Cain said the economy was a factor in some of her shopping, "especially with a 2-year-old."
"I love yard sales and consignment shops," she said.
Cain had several clothing items hanging on the back of Mason's stroller, and she had picked up some green stemware to add to her green glass collection.
She said The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe was a really good event.
 "At a lot of places, (items) aren't worth buying," Cain said. "Here, you don't have to waste your time with that kind of stuff, and the prices are really good."
Stacey Howard of Owensboro has attended past sales. She said she comes out because of the prices. Though the economy did a play a role in looking for deals, Howard said having an 18-month-old son also factored into her shopping.
"Because he's growing so fast, I hate to spend the money for new items," she said.
Many of the sale's consignors designated that their items could be donated if they weren't sold. Several area nonprofit organizations were slated to look through that merchandise after the sale ended on Sunday, Stephanie Higdon said.
The Higdons will host a second The Tot, The Teen and The Wardrobe sale in September or October. To learn more about the sale, visit www.thetottheteenthewardrobe.com.
"It's just something for the whole, entire community," Higdon said.
Beth Wilberding, 691-7307, bwilberding@messenger-inquirer.com
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