WINSTED — When the children’s consignment store in the Ledgebrook Plaza, the Mulberry Bush, closed last year, Sarah Jane Polek jumped at the opportunity to open a similar business of her own. She decided to open Grow With Me, a consignment shop and the newest store to open in Winsted.
Located at 508 Main St., Grow With Me offers clothing and accessories for all ages. With its main focus on children’s clothing, the consignment store carries a variety of apparel, along with infant bath tubs, cribs, potty seats, strollers, shoes and more.
Polek said she is happy with the response she has seen from the town and looks forward to future expansion. "I want them to help my business grow while I help their children grow," she said. Hence the store name.
"I love customer service," said Polek. "I like the daily lives of people."
A mother of two boys, Corey, 9, and Kenny, 10, Polek married her husband, Steve, this summer. The couple are newcomers to Winsted. Knowing how quickly children grow out of clothes, Polek said she she wants to offer gently used items at prices lower than may be find elsewhere.
There is just one rule for consignors to follow.
"The only prerequisite is that clothes need to be clean," said Polek.
Once the clothes are in the store, Polek does the rest of the work. Sorting, hanging, tagging and selling is built into the fee structure.
The process of consignment is kept very simple. If items consigned sell within 90 days, the owner receives 40 percent of the sale price. Unsold clothing can either be returned to the customer or will be donated by Polek to the Salvation Army or a local charity. If consigned items are kept in the store past the 90-day mark and sell, proceeds will be donated to a charitable organization, such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand, the American Heart Association or for breast cancer research.
Customers who spend $50 or more will receive a bright green "multi-tasking bag" perfect for tucking in the back of their closet and filling with clothes that they want to sell. Once the bag is full, it can be brought down to the store and Polek will do the rest. Bags may also be purchased for $5.
Polek has the phone number 860-738-GROW. The store is open Monday though Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.Provided
Fall storage crop harvests amid soil building cover crops at Adamah Farm in Falls Village. Janna Siller 
