Earlier in 2015, Amanda Newman was facing a decision.
She owned three consignment shops in Carmel: Amanda’s City-Chic Consignment along Range Line Road, The District ExChange on Main Street and Carmel Consignment on Meridian Street.
One of the locations, Amanda’s City-Chic, which focused on furniture, needed to be relocated since the building was going to be demolished in 2016 to make way for Justin Moffatt’s $100-million-plus transformation of the Midtown area. Another location focused on ladies’ clothing had its lease up.
But the answer seemed to present itself. She said the perfect location opened up at 715 E. Carmel Drive.
Now she’s relocated all three stores into that one space, located near Keystone Avenue, and renamed it Amanda’s Exchange.
“It’s something we want to do for a few years,” she said. “With the lease coming due on our ladies’ store and the upcoming Midtown project, we started looking aggressively and we found the perfect location and it’s been, like, the best decision. The visibility and traffic is great. There’s plenty of space and parking. Our existing customers are happy and we’re getting lots of new customers as well.”
Newman said customers like making one trip, which means more business for her company.
“It’s more convenient for customers since everything is under one roof,” she said. “It’s kind of one stop.”
Having everything under one roof allowed Amanda’s to extend the hours until 8 p.m. and maximizing staff efficiency. Newman used to split her time between the three locations and now she can stay in one place. It saves money on marketing, utilities and other expenses.
The store’s hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and Noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
The new space is just under11,000 square-feet, which provides room for all three stores without paying an arm and a leg for storage, she said.
Newman also owns a men’s consignment shop in Indianapolis and that will remain separate.
She said Carmel is the perfect market for consignment, which allows people to buy and sell used items.
“It’s something that Carmel needs,” she said. “We need a place to sell items but also a place to buy great finds at an affordable price.”
For more, visit AmandasExchange.com.
