Designer Consigner Offers Upscale Consignment Shopping in Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A local upscale consignment shop is coming up on its fifth year in business and one year in a new location.
Designer Consigner, owned by Pittsfield resident Amy Kotski, has provided stylish, sustainable, and affordable shopping since 2017. In March of last year, her shop moved from East Street to an expanded space in the Allendale Underground at 5 Cheshire Road.
"I felt there was a need for a women's consignment, and junior's, and so I just started small," she said about her business.
"I had small kids, I wanted to be able to be my own boss, so it just seemed to be a good fit."
In a society where fast fashion has dominated the accessible clothing industry, Kotski is providing another option.
The name says it all when it comes to her business model. Kotski sells new and used fashions for men, women, juniors, and children with a focus on brands and modern styles.
"It's just a great way to save money and save the environment." she said. "Because a lot of this stuff is like brand new, especially with online shopping, people get it home, it doesn't fit, they don't send it back and bring it in here."
Some of her favorite brands to stock are Free People, Anthropologie, LL Bean, and the popular workout wear brand LuLulemon. Only genuine labels are accepted.
Designer Consigner also carries shoes, new accessories and jewelry, toys, and gifts. Activewear and tops are reportedly the best-selling items.
Kotski accepts quality items, gently worn, that are no more than 3 years old. They should be clean, free of odors, freshly laundered, and ready to display.
She selects pieces based on current sales trends and sizes that are in demand.
Items are priced at her discretion and then kept on the sales floor for 90 days with a pricing schedule of the full price for the first 30 days, 25 percent off the next 30 days, and 50 percent off the final 30 days.
Consignment splits, depending on the final selling price of an item, are 40 percent in cash or 50 percent in store credit if unsold items are donated and 30 percent in cash or 50 percent store credit if unsold items are returned.
If items are not sold at the end of a consignment period and a consignor requests leftovers, a courtesy call will be made. Any items not picked up within a week from the end of the consignment period are donated to a charity.
The shop was originally located at 81 East St. in the same block as Otto's Kitchen and Comfort. In 2018, it expanded to a space next door and, last year, Kotski decided to relocate.
"There was no parking," she said about her former location, which relied on street parking,
"A lot of my foot traffic was gone because nobody was up there working anymore, and we just moved down here, we have more room so it's more it's more socially distant, and there's parking."
Kotski has one part-time employee but otherwise, runs the operation by herself. On Saturdays, she said, the shop sees an average of about 50 customers.
Designer Consigner is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 to 5, Friday from 10 to 7, Saturday from 10 to 4, and Sunday from 10 to 3. More information can be found on the shop's Facebook page.
Tags: consignment, thrift store,
