Trevor Frey/Daily NewsKiddos' consignment on Campbell Lane opened at it's new location in February.

Perhaps the most difficult decision parents must make early on is where to buy the supplies necessary for raising their children – things like diapers, formula, clothing, car seats, bassinets, strollers, walkers and playpens.

Off the shelf, these items can cost hundreds of dollars. But some businesses offer lower priced alternatives that don’t compromise on quality.

Barbara and Terry Norton run 1st & 2nd Time Around in Greenwood Station next to HoneyBaked Ham. The store, originally called 2nd Time Around until it began carrying new items, has been open for 20 years. The Nortons have owned it for five.

Barbara Norton said all the clothing in the store is consigned. New items include car seats, baby beds and strollers purchased wholesale from Costco. Norton said her store is like most businesses.

“We have, like any retail business, our busy months and slow months,” she said. “Right now we’re busy with back to school and everyone’s looking for winter clothes.”

Slower months are January, after the Christmas spending sprees, and July, when people are saving for vacations. She said she keeps busy with new clients.

“I’m opening new accounts every day,” she said. “Babies are born every day and a lot of people can’t afford new stuff and a lot of the clothes, you spend a fortune for them and they outgrow them before they wear them out. At consignment, you can get name-brand clothes at a reasonable price.”

Anita Belcher’s parents both run their own businesses, which gave her incentive to follow their lead.

“I wanted my own business since I was 12,” Belcher said behind the counter of her children’s clothing shop, Kiddos’, on Campbell Lane.

Belcher majored in business management, then got a job, but she wasn’t using her degree.

“For about five years, I debated going into business,” she said. “Finally I decided it was time to go for it.”

Kiddos’ is a children’s specialty boutique that carries consigned clothing and accessories for children.

“I had shopped consignment since I was a teenager,” she said. “I started considering a children’s consignment store when my daughter was born.”

Belcher has two children, a son, Wyatt, 4, and a daughter, Harley, 7.

The sting of paying for new clothes, only to have to discard them so quickly when the child grows out of them, inspired Belcher to make the experience profitable for her and others.

Products at Kiddos’ are priced at about 25 to 35 percent off their original costs. Sales are split 50/50 between the store and consignors. There are no additional fees.

Belcher only requires that items be on hangars and that people schedule times to bring in their products.

Assorted neatly on shelves were in-line skates pads, packaged toys and figurines like Scooby Doo, Buzz Lightyear, Glitter Art, Bee-Bob Building, Pocahontas, Teletubbies, Tickle-Me Elmo and accessories like baby formula and unopened diapers.

Clothing racks are separated by size.

Items remain on store shelves for 60 to 90 days.

“After 60 days, I’ll do one markdown and then after 90 days, items get marked down again,” she said. “Consignors have the option of coming in at any time to take back their products.”

Belcher said only about three of 200 consignors have done that. The majority of items sell.

“About 90 percent of items sell,” she said. “They usually sell within the first 60 days.”

There’s a fine line, Belcher said, in trying to find the right price for the customer, and to still be able to bring some kind of profit for her and the consignor.

When she opened Feb. 18, she had little product, but a lot of ambition.

“I opened with very little,” she said. “Just enough to get my doors open and say I was here.

“I’ve done really well,” she said. “I have over 200 consignors bringing in things and continue to have a good supply.”

Belcher offers products for newborns up to size 12 for boys and girls. She also stocks toys, accessories and shoes.

“I’ve got just about anything a kid can use up to age 12,” she said. “I have people bringing in stuff when their babies outgrow them and new stuff that they may have gotten at baby showers and either outgrown or don’t use it at all.”

Belcher said about a third of her shoppers are grandmothers buying consignment because they know it’s a better value.

She doesn’t take anything that is stained or of poor quality, she said, insisting she wants customers to have a good quality selection.

“The baby equipment doesn’t really get worn out because it’s not used for very long,” she said.

Kiddos’ has a modest selection of strollers, high chairs, exercisers, walkers and bassinets.

She also stocks kids videos and books.

“I really tried to give this store what I felt the other stores lacked,” she said. “I didn’t want customers to have to dig through five things to get one good thing.

“I’m trying to get more books in all the time,” she said. “It’s really important for kids to read, but books can be expensive.”

Having a good product isn’t much good if you can’t move it, Belcher said. And the first rule of business is always location, location, location.

“At first I was looking at Scottsville Road and Russellville Road,” she said. “But Campbell Lane is so central and not caught up in the mess of Scottsville Road. I’m across from Aldi’s and the store windows were really important.”

A new building means her store seems “new and fresh” she said.

“It costs more, but it pays off. It’s $1,400 a month for 1,400 square feet. Everybody likes this location. They can find me and it’s not on a side street.”

Kim Combs of Bowling Green discovered Kiddos’ just driving by one day. She’s the mother of a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old.

“I buy mainly clothes and shoes and have bought some books there,” she said.

Combs also consigns at Kiddos’.

“I’ve sold a mixture of name-brand pants and shirts and shoes,” she said. “I know that whenever I’ve gone in, I’ve had something sold, so it’s a pretty quick turnaround.”

Combs said Kiddos’ is clean and well organized and that Belcher “only takes nice clothes.”

Combs wishes Kiddos’ had been open when she was pregnant.

“I paid twice as much for things that I could have bought here and still had in good condition,” she said. “I wish I had originally gone the consignment store route.”

Belcher’s store has a television running with children’s videos, a play area and fitting rooms. She allows a five-day return policy and offers layaway. Starting in October, she will accept major credit cards.

“Most customers can afford to buy new, but choose to come here, so I want to keep up with their standards,” she said.

As for the name, Belcher said she wanted a one-word name that was simple and catchy. It came to her one day when collecting her children to leave. She also hears customers use the term when summoning them, “Come on, kiddos.”

October is the best selling month for fall merchandise, she said. Over 90 percent of store products are geared for fall.

“Generally, consignment shoppers wait until they’re going to wear stuff,” she said.

Kiddos’ is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 1st & 2nd Time Around is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.