Businesswoman Kalita Furbert has launched a new venture to give used children’s clothes a new lease of life.

Ms Furbert, who works in human resources, will open the doors on Kid2Kid on Saturday. The Southampton business aims to sell clothes, shoes, books and other items for children aged from babies to ten years old on a consignment basis.

Ms Furbert said she got the idea after selling some of her five-year-old son Zydon’s outgrown clothes — and turning a profit.

She added: “I used to give away my son’s clothes for the longest while and this year I decided to sell them for a few dollars apiece.

“I made nearly $200 and I thought it was a good idea to open a store and do something like this.”

Ms Furbert, who opened the business in partnership with friend Natasha Simmons, added: “I think there is a great demand for something like this right now because there are a lot of people who can’t afford to buy new clothes for their children.

“They grow out of their clothes so fast — I have to buy my son’s clothes twice a year because he is growing so quickly.”

Ms Furbert, who is running the business part-time while still working at Performance Solutions, said people with goods to sell can either drop them off at the store or arrange to have them collected.

Items are held for 60 days and, if sold, the proceeds are split 50/50 between the store and the client.

Ms Furbert said: “If items aren’t in good enough condition, people can just donate them and use them for quarterly dollar sales.

She added: “We’ve already had a good amount of people ask about the service and a lot of people have donated things.

“We haven’t had any consignments as yet, but we already have a good variety of clothes in the store.”

She added that a proportion of the profits from the store would go to charity.

Ms Furbert said: “We haven’t spoken to any charities at this point, but I have been thinking about the Family Centre or the Sunshine League.”

She added that she hoped to add furniture to the store’s inventory — but lacked the space.

Ms Furbert said: “If people want to put furniture on our Facebook page, we will do that. I plan to get a bigger space eventually and once we do that, we will be able to house furniture as well.”

The store will be open from Wednesdays to Fridays from 12 noon to 6pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 6pm — but if people want to consign or donate outside these hours, they can call in to make an appointment.

And Ms Furbert said: “These hours are only to start with — when we start getting people coming in, we can open longer hours.”

She added clients who consign items can accumulate a balance and become eligible for cash back or store credit, while those who choose to donate can also get store credit.

Kid2Kid will also buy items outright, but only up to a limit of $50 per person per day.

A website for the store is planned for the near future and clients who consign items will be able to sign in online and check their balances.

Kid2Kid’s Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/kid2kidconsignmentbda