Consignment Shop Puts

Sports Equipment Back In The Game

By Nancy K. Crevier

Next to the Botsford Fire Department, the pale yellow building at 317 South Main Street is home to Newtown’s newest consignment shop. Replay Sports and Clothing Consignment Shop, owned by Louis Bianco and his wife, Bonnie, opened April 3, and has been well received, said Ms Bianco.

The Biancos see Replay as filling a niche in Newtown. “There is no other store in Newtown that specializes in used sports equipment,” Ms Bianco pointed out. Having three children involved in sports and other activities, the Biancos were aware of how quickly children go through sports equipment and clothing. “We figured there were other families in the same situation,” said Ms Bianco, and although neither comes from a retail background, they decided the time was right to jump into the business.

Replay accepts all gently used sporting goods and name brand only, seasonally appropriate clothing in children’s sizes 4T to high school. In less than four months, the store is already packed full of consignment items.

A table is heaped with gently used cleats in all sizes. Tidy rows of hockey skates fill nearly a quarter of one wall, from floor to ceiling, and nearby, figure skates fill a good portion of a lower rack. Baseball and softball mitts festoon a support pole and are mounded into a nearby bin. Two rows of used clothing for children run down one side of the room, a circular rack is filled with running shorts, sweat pants, and similar casual sports wear, and a third rack is new sports clothing donated to Replay by Rankin Sports on Route 6 in Danbury.

Money earned on sales of the Rankin Sports items will be donated to Newtown schools, said Ms Bianco.

“If there’s a sport, I think we accept the equipment,” Ms Bianco said. “We have baseballs and bats, pads, gloves, cleats, hockey and lacrosse gear, hockey and lacrosse sticks, basketballs, soccer balls, skis, skates, rollerblades, tennis rackets, motor cross gear, golf clubs, football and cheerleading items, and bicycles,” she said. Replay also carries dance shoes and exercise equipment, sports shirts, Newtown cheerleading clothing, and goals for lacrosse, hockey, and soccer.

“We take in fishing gear, and that has done really well for us,” said Ms Bianco.

Although the store seems well stocked, Replay continually welcomes new consignment items. Among the items particularly sought at this time, said Ms Bianco, are musical instruments, equine clothing and equipment, school and Scout uniforms, kayaks, life jackets, and dance clothing and shoes.

Clothing is marked at bargain prices, from $3.99 for a short sleeve shirt to $10 for children’s dress pants. Replay does not mark down prices. Consignment customers receive up to 40 percent of the selling price for clothing, and 50 percent of the selling price of sports equipment. Clothing that does not sell by a season’s end is donated to charity. Unsold sports equipment is returned to the consignee.

“We also provide clubs and organizations with a way to earn money,” Ms Bianco said. It is a convenient way for schools, teams, and other organizations to resale collected sports and clothing. Consignment customers can also designate profits from donated items to go to Newtown schools.

Along with a convenient place to recycle used sports items and to purchase gently used clothing or equipment, Replay plans to offer lacrosse lacing services this fall.

The Biancos believe that Replay Sports and Clothing Consignment Shop fills a need for growing, sports-minded families. “We have a lot of customers from Monroe, Easton, and Trumbull already,” Ms Bianco said, and she is hoping to tap into a wider Newtown/Sandy Hook market.

Store hours, beginning August 1, are Wednesday and Thursday, 10:30 am to 5 pm; Friday, 10 am to 6 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm; and Sunday, noon to 3 pm. The store is closed Monday and Tuesday.

For more information, call 203-770-8126. Appointments are not necessary.