“It's Your Business: Clothing shop to open in Mahomet”

It's Your Business: Clothing shop to open in Mahomet

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 06:11 AM PST

Downtown Mahomet next month will welcome a new locally owned boutique called Bulldog Kids.

Christina Johnson is planning to open a children's consignment store at 427 E. Main St. in mid-December. The store, named after the Mahomet schools' mascot, will also have a small section devoted to women's clothing.

Johnson ran a similar store several years ago when she lived in Missouri and has wanted to get back into the retail business. While attending the town's fall festival with her fiance, "I fell in love with Mahomet and decided it would be a great place."

The store will sell gently used children's clothing from infant to size 16, as well as some baby accessories, toys, books and more. She will also accept maternity clothing.

She will begin accepting items in early December and is aiming for an opening of Dec. 17. To make an appointment for consigning items, Johnson can be reached at 309-310-0872. The store will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, although the hours may change in the future.

And in Monticello ...

Resale shops seem to be opening all over East Central Illinois. Another new one to the scene is Clothes Encounters, which opened this weekend on the Monticello square.

Becky Herdmann of White Heath was a nurse for years, but always wanted to run her own store.

"This is a big transition for me," he said.

She sells lightly used women's, men's and junior's clothing, shoes, purses and some jewelry. Brands include Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Calvin Klein and other higher-end brands. Purses include Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Gucci and more.

Some clothing, jewelry and purses in the store are new; they're just items she was able to purchase at wholesale prices.

"A lot of people have said to me, especially in Monticello they wish they had an adult consignment store in town. We have furniture and children's consignment shops, but not one for adults. It's what we were lacking and I saw it as a way for people in Monticello to have nice things but not spend full price," Herdmann said.

She offers consignors 50 percent when the item sells. Herdmann said she will encourage sellers to donate their items if they don't sell after 60 days.

The store, 215 W. Washington St., across from the Brown Bag Deli, can be reached at 762-7494. It is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. On Thursday it's open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Trees and Custard

Brace yourselves, folks. Jarling's Custard Cup, 309 W. Kirby Ave., C, is approaching the end of the 2010 season. The last day you can buy your "snowstorm" or shake will be Sunday, Dec. 12. The good news is they'll be reopening earlier next year, sometime in February, Christy Jarling said.

Until Dec. 12, the Custard Cup is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday. The drive-through is open until 9:45 p.m.

– If you're wondering about the Christmas trees usually sold at the Custard Cup lot, here's the scoop.

Sam Preston of St. Joseph has been selling Christmas trees for over 30 years in Champaign, most recently at Custard Cup and before that the old Kmart building, now home to Home Depot.

With Jarling's staying open later in the season, Preston said, he decided now was a good time to retire and sell the business to someone else. Ari Roberts is the new owner and has set up the tree stand in the Danville Gardens Too lot at 1413 N. Prospect Ave., C. He opened this weekend.

"It's got a long history in town and it's a lot of fun to see the families come together," Roberts said.

He sells a variety of trees – Scots pine, white pine, blue spruce, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, balsam fir and concolor fir – grown in Michigan.

The stand will be open noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Christmas Eve.

Copasetic moves

The furniture store Copasetic Consignments has expanded into a larger unit in the Traction Station Building, 41 E. University Ave., in downtown Champaign.

The store's entrance is now on the south side of the building next to the Christie Clinic parking lot. Customers can still park in the spaces between the Traction building and The Inman and in spaces just outside the new entrance, according to owner Lisa Gundersen.

The new suite features exposed brick, wood floors and a loft-type atmosphere. Gundersen opened in May in a suite facing University Avenue in the Traction building.

More information is available by calling 402-5541 or visiting http://www.copaseticconsignments.com.

Country Arbors Christmas

Who doesn't love the smell of fresh pine during the winter months? Country Arbors Nursery, 1742 CR 1400 N (Windsor Road) in Urbana, is, for the first time, selling live-cut holiday decorations.

We're not talking about icicle lights, but cut holly twigs, winterberry, roping, variegated boxwood and wreaths. They also sell a variety of live Christmas trees such as Fraser firs and Douglas firs. They also can flock, or apply artificial snow, to trees.

Country Arbors is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and can be reached at 367-1072.

Are you opening a new business or changing an existing one? Christine des Garennes can be reached by phone at 351-5388 or 800-252-3346; by e-mail at cgarenne@news-gazette.com; or by regular mail at The News-Gazette, c/o It's Your Business column, P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677.

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