By Adam Aasen
Amanda’s City-Chic Consignment has been buying and selling home décor and furniture since 2010. Its customers describe the locally-owned, family-run business as a place to find unique items that you won’t find at chain stores.
Recently, Old Town Design Group announced its plans for the $100 million-plus redevelopment of the Midtown area. The developer bought consignment shop’s building from the landlord and plans to tear down the building in the coming years.
This has led many loyal shoppers to ask: What will happen to this successful local business?
Amanda Newman, owner with her husband Jeff, said they won’t be going away.
“We are still under lease for another year, so we don’t plan on going anywhere for at least that time,” she said. “And even with that, it could be two or three years until the building is actually demolished. We just want to get across to our customers that we’re not closing. We may move, but we will definitely be very accessible.”
In 2002, Newman opened her first shop, Carmel Consignment, and has since expanded with four stores in total, each specializing in different clientele. Information on each store can be found at www.yourconsignmentconnection.com.
When they opened their location along Range Line Road, Newman said she knew the city had an interesting in developing the area, but nobody knew how long that would take.
Since the location has been successful, Newman said she is certain she wants to find a new space when that time comes, which she emphasizes isn’t for quite some time.
“It’s definitely in the back of our mind,” she said. “We’ve talked to several people who want our type of business in their area. It does require a lot of space, so this was the perfect building for us because it had a warehouse attached for our inventory. So we know probably in Carmel we won’t find an ideal building like this, but we are open to exploring a lot of different options.”
Andrew Greenwood, partner with Old Town Design Group, said retail space will be available at “market rate” to any business who is interested in inquiring.
“This consignment shop is a great example of a locally owned business that is making a positive impact on the area,” he said. “We are still early in the process, but Amanda’s City-Chic Consignment is more than welcome to talk to us about space in our new buildings. We already talked a little bit and as we move forward we are open to more communication.”
Newman said she isn’t opposed to moving into one of the new Midtown properties, but it’s way too early to decide that just yet.
“It’s something we’ll explore when the time gets closer,” she said. “It sounds like it will be a nice development.”
Still, her customers hope that Newman’s business will be around for a long time. One Amanda’s customer, Julie Litzsinger, said she loves that the shop sells high-quality furniture at a great price.
“I am having so much fun finding what I need,” she said. “I have found a two-bedroom town house filled with furniture at consignment stores.”
