These days, money is tight for just about everyone. Multiply that by a move to a new town when your husband is transferred but no new job is available for you. Then amplify with children.
Those were some of the combinations of life experiences that faced Brownsburg residents Katie Awwad and Korinna McCallie. In addition, both were bargain hunters.
So the duo, who met at Brownsburg Church of Christ, have joined forces to become franchise owners of Here We Grow Again, a consignment sale firm based in the Kansas City, Mo., area.
Awwad, 25, and McCallie, 37, had become familiar with some of the growing number of similar consignment sales in the Indianapolis metropolitan area and decided the Westside and Hendricks County needed the option.
Beginning this weekend, several sales are scheduled for the area. One of those, the Here We Grow Again sale, concentrating on children's and maternity clothes as well toys and furnishings, is scheduled for April 13-15 at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds in Danville.
It's not that McCallie, a former seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher in the Kansas City area, or Awwad, who also has a math and science degree and substitute taught in Brownsburg, were destitute. But as their children came along -- McCallie's daughter Ella is 3, a little sister is due in May, and Awwad is busy with 19-month-old Logan -- they soon learned the value of frugality.
"I didn't even shop consignment until after she was born," McCallie said of Ella.
Awwad learned fast, too -- Logan seemed to move almost directly from 0-3-month sizes into 9-month outfits -- at that age, children outgrow clothes long before they are worn out.
In Kansas City, McCallie became familiar with the Here We Grow Again business, first volunteering, then shopping and consigning herself. Awwad found similar sales here, through a friend.
Each has slightly different procedures and policies, but essentially, folks bring their used but still eminently usable clothes, toys and fixtures to be tagged and sold, with the franchise taking some portion of the selling price to cover venue rental, marketing and some other services.
Using Here We Grow Again guidance and practices, the two Brownsburg moms began planning their first sale in October. They've been collecting some items they are storing in their garages and spare bedrooms, developed a web site where people can register and get all sorts of information, and have held "tagging" workshops to steer sellers in the right direction.
However, they also will be taking in items for sale at the fairgrounds in Danville for April 10-12, a special early sale for volunteers and sellers.
Prices vary depending on quality and other factors, but generally, sellers keep 70 percent, and the remainder goes to the Indianapolis Here We Grow Again franchise.
The two declined to release specifics about their franchise agreement, but they said consignment sales such as the one they are organizing -- with massive inventory over 21/2 days -- can require an investment of $10,000 to $30,000, including franchise costs, advertising, venue rental, purchase of racks to hold clothes during the sale and materials from price tags to storage bins to safety pins to gasoline . . . and the list goes on. Eventually, they said, they'll have to rent a storage unit to house racks and other materials between sales.
At this point, they plan to hold two sales a year and are committed to keeping the business running for at least three years. Then, they'll reassess.
From a shopper's standpoint, particularly moms with young kids, it's a great way to find bargains on good quality clothes. McCallie has found several pretty, frilly "party dresses" -- the kind little girls wear for rare special occasions and photos -- for $3 or $10. At those prices, she doesn't feel bad if Ella wears them only two or three times. And now, she knows there will be a little sister who might get even more wear out of them -- and then they might end up at another consignment sale.
Awwad said one of her great finds was a tiny suit, with a clip-on tie, for Logan, which he dapperly wears to church. And she paid $6 for it.
At the rate Logan is growing, it won't fit him for too much longer -- and he's not likely to be able to wear holes in the knees by then.
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