Maia Nehme, Contributing Photographer

Racks overflowing with clothing and the upbeat opening chords of Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song” usher customers into One Good for Another, the new consignment shop on Broadway.

Jamie Dawn, a local real estate agent, opened the store in April after realizing that New Haven didn’t have any consignment shops. Her store caters to a diverse clientele that includes New Haveners, college students — both from Yale and other nearby universities — and tourists. 

Dawn was drawn to selling secondhand items due to their affordability and positive environmental impact.

“I’ve kept thousands, literally thousands, of items out of landfills,” she said. “One Good for Another, the name of the store, is actually the definition of ‘exchange.’ It’s good for you, it’s good for your wallet, it’s good for the planet, it’s good for the community, it’s just good for everything.” 

Dawn accepts secondhand “clothing, accessories, home goods, furniture, and more” from consignors, according to One Good for Another’s website.

Consigned goods, apart from formal wear, are on sale for 90 days. If the goods are purchased during this period, the consignor receives 40 percent of the revenue from the sale. Consignors can either collect unsold goods once this period elapses or the goods become the property of the store. As of Nov. 13, Dawn has paid her consignors $12,220.05.

“I have Prada handbags and Coach handbags and Jimmy Choo shoes and Dolce and Gabbana skirts — crazy stuff — but I also have Old Navy and Target,” Dawn said. “I’m not a snob. I’ll take anything if it’s just gently used.” 

Anna Lehman ’27 visited the shop for the first time on Monday and described it as a “cute experience.”

Despite liking some clothing items, she said she didn’t buy any of them because they had high prices.

“On a student’s budget, some of the stuff that I actually wanted to buy was not attainable,” Lehman told the News. “[Dawn] did have really nice stuff, but I’m not just going to buy it on any regular Monday.”

The store is located on the second floor of 59 Broadway, right above Campus Customs. Lehman and Dawn noted that this upstairs location makes it more difficult for potential customers to find the store.

Dawn made three signs and several balloons advertising One Good for Another, which are displayed at all times on the sidewalk outside the building. Additionally, when she first opened the store, she put up flyers around Yale’s campus and mailed 4,000 postcards to New Haveners.

“Two or three people a day will climb up those stairs and say, ‘You need a sign.’ And I go, ‘Really?’ I bring them downstairs and I show them,” Dawn said. “People don’t pay attention. They’re walking by on their phones.”

Dawn held her first 20 percent off clearance sale over Labor Day weekend, which she said was “amazing.” Since then, she has continued to hold regular sales in hopes of drawing new customers to the shop.

On Friday, Nov. 10, the store had its first Black Friday sale in which all goods were 25 percent off. Dawn said this sale was geared towards students at the University since most of them won’t be on campus on Black Friday, which falls on Nov. 24 this year.

Sabrina Zbar ’26 spotted a sign on Broadway advertising this sale and visited the shop for the first time on Friday, purchasing a secondhand sweater. Although she would’ve been interested in the consignment shop anyway, she said the sale “pushed [her] to actually go.”

“I got a pretty good deal,” she told the News. “Cashmere under $50 — that’s unheard of.”

Recently, Dawn started distributing loyalty cards to her customers which provide a 25-percent discount to returning customers after five shopping trips.

She’s also adopting a “pay it forward” marketing model, where customers can write their own names on the loyalty cards and give them to their friends. For each new customer that they bring in with these cards, the original customer will receive a 10-percent discount. 

One Good for Another is open every day of the week except Wednesdays.