MY LIFE AS A RETAILER.(Kid Stuff, consignment shop)(Brief Article)(Editorial)

HFN: The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network, February, 2002 by Ratliff, Duke

Retailers, I feel your pain.

If you've noticed a special empathy from me toward merchandising types, it's because, well, I am one. I'm a retailer.

A year ago, my wife opened a children's consignment shop in Westchester County, just north of New York City. While my duties are slim to none, and my wife will chuckle at me for calling myself a retailer, I'm the official secretary of the business, according to the state of New York. And like most secretaries, I have a direct line to the president of the company -- my wife.

Our sales from used children's clothes, toys, books and strollers for the first year equals about an hour of sales for a single mass-merchant store. Nevertheless, I've experienced some universal situations to which most...