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GROWTH DRIVES T. BERRY SQUARE’S BIG MOVE

jennifer-quinn-payneT. Berry Square owner Jennifer Quinn Payne in her store’s new consignment section. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

It wasn’t long after Jennifer Quinn Payne added a consignment section to her boutique children’s store, T. Berry Square, that she realized floor space had become a precious commodity. She kicked off the new operation in June with about 30 pieces of lightly used children’s clothing, and quickly, the Broad Street shop started getting smaller.

“It was kind of taking over,” Quinn Payne said of the consignment section. “We needed to expand.”

So expand she did. With Courtney Medd, brought in as a partner to help oversee the resale portion of the store, Quinn Payne packed up and headed south to a bigger space — next door, to 64 Broad, to be exact.

t-berry-squareThe business relocated to the storefront one door south on Broad Street.

The move into a space last occupied by furniture seller A Peaceful Home allows T. Berry to have a healthy mix of old and new, though the shop’s niche is still upscale children’s clothing and accessories.

The decision to start selling used pre-owned new and gently used clothes was based mostly on the economy, and seems to have paid off. It’s attracted a new clientele base that thrives on bargains but also appeal to the frugal sides of the store’s faithful.

“It has just exploded,” Medd said of the business. The initial 30-piece inventory has grown to some 1,500 articles of clothing. “It’s awesome.”

But don’t think that T. Berry is making a wholesale shift to a thrift shop status. Quinn Payne says even the resale part of the store consists of designer label clothes. But shoppers are bargain-minded, which is why T. Berry has also added used accessories, such as strollers and cribs.

“In this economic climate, resale shops are thriving,” Quinn Payne said. “People are excited.”

Posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:23 am, filed under Business, Children, Economy, Fashion, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed. Email this story.
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  • Just got some super cute stuff there for my new nephew! Great selection…will def go back!

    Posted by: Amanda on November 19, 2009 at 5:20 pm | Permalink

  • They should have moved out of town. My wife spends too much money in this place.

    Posted by: Mike on November 19, 2009 at 5:25 pm | Permalink

  • The previously-worn part of the store makes a nice counter-point to Lavish Kids and the former-West Front shop After the Stork. (both wildly expensive!) It’s nice to see some diversity in price downtown.

    Posted by: Westside Townie on November 19, 2009 at 5:58 pm | Permalink

  • Congratulations n T Berry’s sucess, but in response to Westside Townie you are talking about (in most cases) used clothing!
    So please do not compare the other stores to a consignment/thrift shop, they were just not stores for you…

    Posted by: Karen on November 27, 2009 at 11:18 am | Permalink

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