Consignments for resale at local shop

Kimberly Smith became the owner of clothing consignment and resale store Retail Therapy to offer in-style fashions and accessories to women and children of all sizes, and now uses her business as a way of giving back.

"It's recycling," Smith said. "For us, it is a huge part of giving back to the community. Women's clothing is our bread and butter, but we have a huge formal department and [it] keeps growing and growing."

Retail Therapy focuses on resale clothing for women and children, but it also has a wide selection of shoes, accessories, plus-size and maternity clothing, and a competitive array of formal wear available, which contain some of the more popular items, Smith said. In recent years, the offerings for children's clothes and formal wear have increased exponentially, which led to a remodel and expansion in 2009. Now, dresses range from cocktail to evening to summer, and clothes are available for children from newborns to size 16.

For Smith, a business—regardless of the product—is only as good as the customer service offered.

"We do our best to know everybody's name who comes in the door," she said. "You go into so many stores, and people don't even look at you. If your customer is not happy, you don't have a business. There's nothing wrong with being nice. You may be the only one who is nice to that person all day."

Smith said she would like to increase the size of her 4,000-square-foot store by another 1,000 feet when it becomes available, and she has plans in the meantime to create a behind-the-scenes workstation for pricing and organization of the dozens of consignments they receive on nearly a daily basis.

"We have new stuff coming in every day," she said. "We don't do buy-outs yet. Since [the item] is still owned by the consigner, once the item sells, we pay 40 percent of what the item sells for."

Retal Therapy makes frequent donations to various organizations, including its recent involvement with Wreaths Across America, an initiative that helps insure that wreaths are placed on the graves of fallen troops for the holidays, Smith said.

"We have big 50 percent off sales each Saturday, and every time we do the sale we do a food drive, and we do a lot with the military as well," Smith said. "We truly like to give back."

How to become a Retail Therapy consigner:

• Gather gently used clothing or personal items
• Clothes must be in season, recently washed and on hangers
• Consigners can bring in no more than 20 items per day from the first–21st
• Retail Therapy prices and sells the consignment items, giving 40 percent of the profits to the consigner once the item sells

Retail Therapy, 10782 Grant Road, Houston, 281-955-0806, www.retailtherapyresale.com