Hearth and Consignment

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advantage of it by adding top brand women's consignment clothing to her offerings.

"Any more, women just love shopping consignment stores," she says. "Customers would come in with the coolest clothes and I'd be surprised to hear they were consignment." Rodgers dedicates about a third of the store to the retail business and the rest to her sewing services.

Tucked away above Main Street's Smokehouse 52 BBQ--which is set to open by the end of the year--is Chelsea's other new resale store. The Other Women is easy to miss. With Smokehouse 52's windows papered and construction under way, owners Laura Rivard and Kim Watkins have been relying on word-of-mouth to boost the upstairs business. "I think it'll get better once the restaurant opens, but we've been doing alright and covering our rent," Rivard says.

The friends, who also work as servers at Metzger's in Scio Township, chose to lease the spot where Resale Boutique got its start several years ago (it's since moved to Saline). They sell both new--including Talbot's clothing from an area store that closed--and gently used clothing and accessories for women, with a small selection of men's and children's items. All consignments are kept on the floor for sixty days, and the pair split the selling price fifty-fifty with consignors. Artwork and jewelry by local and Michigan artists, and some household items, are also for sale.