Karen Zampill couldn’t have been happier when she found the perfect child sized jean jacket at the newly reopened Little Star Children’s Consignment shop on Route 309 in New Tripoli.

“I found just what I was looking for,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to personalize it by writing the child’s name on it.”

That was music to the ears of the shop’s proprietor, Erica Kudlesky.

“I think it’s great that people can buy other people’s gently used items and not have them go to a landfill,” she said.

“It makes my day if I can help people buy gently used items while saving them money, say on a pair of jeans or any other items we have here in the shop.”

Consignment has been a way of life for Kudlesky who admits that at six months, she’d accompany her mother to Snyders Second Chances, where she worked.

“My parents own the property,” Kudlesky said. These days, she takes her own children, Nicholas, 4, and Gabriel, 11 months, to Little Star, following in her mother’s footsteps.

“They are with me full time, so I don’t have to put them in day care,” Kudlesky said, but that’s not the only benefit. “My kids can learn business aspects in real life [situations], like making change without a calculator.”

The shop has been open since July.

“We accept children’s clothing from preemie up to size 18,” she said.

“I accept anything kid related, but not stuffed animals, recalled baby items or car seats because they have an expiration date and legal liabilities,” Kudlesky said.

“I have up to 64 consigners, and everything was brought in since July,” she said. “Grandparents like to come in and buy toys while parents come in for clothes and books.”

Early in September, Katie Zuber brought a large bag of items she wanted to sell to the shop. “These items are perfectly fine,” she said. “I hope someone else can enjoy them while I earn a little money for my items.”

The shop’s inventory is always changing.

“There’s a 60-day consignment period,” Kudlesky explained. “After that, the consigners can pick up their items or they go to the store for donations to those who need them like in the case of a fire.”

The shop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.