New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Luxury consignment exchange coming to Wallingford
WALLINGFORD — Elite Consignment Exchange is the latest new business in downtown Wallingford.
At 1 South Colony St., once the location of Affordable Cabinets, Granite, and Tile, which closed sometime earlier this year, the new store will fill another prominent corner property along Wallingford’s five-way intersection downtown. This marks the third business in recent months to move into the area, filling up storefronts that were vacant at the start of the year.
The store is owned by two Wallingford locals, Dave Costanzo and Wayne Patterson, who formed Elite Consignment Exchange earlier this year in a joint venture to own a business.
Patterson says they’re adding something new to the area, tapping into an underserved market with the number of restaurants and other stores around downtown. The store will sell primarily items from high-end fashion and designer brands, offering payment to those who come in to sell their items secondhand, though Patterson said they also had several overseas vendors who offered a good rate for the clothing items as new.
“Right now the economy is not that great, so people don’t really have a lot of money to spend as much. So we figure people like nice things at a discount, so they might want to check our store out,” Patterson said. “I think it will add a lot of value. There’s a lot of restaurants surrounding everything, so I think it’s actually a good fit instead of putting another restaurant or something like that there.”
Patterson said that while they’re still getting the store set up, they have a tentative opening planned for sometime in June or July, before the end of the summer. The store’s website will be live for interested customers to see what’s available before they come.
A centrally located brick and mortar store provides a convenient alternative for selling handbags and other items at a reasonable price, without having to wait for interested buyers in online market spaces.
“Women have luxury handbags or whatever, and they don’t want them anymore,” Patterson said. “They could just come to us and instead of waiting to sell them online, just give it to us immediately. And then when we sell it, we give them the money. So it takes a lot of the legwork out for them.”
More details about the business and merchandise will be offered closer to opening, Patterson said.
He’s particularly excited to open a business in the town where he lived.
“It’s great. Because like I said, it’s close to home and I like Wallingford. To me it works out better than, say, if I opened up a business in a different town. I’m excited about it. I’m happy on all fronts,” Patterson said, also noting the friendly business atmosphere in town. “We’re getting a lot of positive feedback. So it’s been friendly.”
Elite Consignment Exchange follows Thirteen 33 Salon and the Skin Bar, which opened up just across the street, in being the newest businesses to the area. The town has made a concerted effort in recent months to attract business to the lower downtown area, with the economic development office preparing a request for proposals from potential businesses interested in occupying the historic train station at 37 Hall Ave.
Should they find someone to take over the space, the Town Council and Mayor Vincent Cervoni have expressed hopes that it’ll become an anchor that attracts other businesses and more foot traffic to that section of town.
Though some storefronts remain unoccupied, like 4 Center St, which sits across the intersection from Elite Consignment Exchange and has been vacant for nearly a decade, the council was largely optimistic about the area and its business potential.
“I would say frankly, the uptown and downtown probably looks better now than it has at any point in my lifetime, in terms of the number of full storefronts,” Marrone told Hearst Connecticut Media earlier this month.