The sluggish economy of late has caused many families to examine their spending habits. Plenty of folks are thinking twice about buying new and, instead, turning toward consignment stores.

A number of local businesses have seized the trend toward thrift by offering customers the chance to barter, exchange and consign items, as well as buy clothing and merchandise at a fraction of the cost of new.

For Amy Smith, owner of Curb Traders Clothing Exchange in Hamilton, the act of exchanging items for cash or merchandise is something she’s been doing since starting her business six years ago.

“Consignment stores have been around forever,” she said, ‘but exchanges are relatively new. Bartering is in vogue.”

Looking around her 4,000-square-foot store on Third Street in Hamilton, it’s difficult to take in the hoard of prizes. A well-dressed mannequin, its silk dress flapping in the fan-induced breeze, peers down over a treasure trove of vintage clothing, eclectic memorabilia and popular everyday wares: antique capes, 1940s shoes, a Joe Cool snoopy sweater, a Gucci bag, turn-of-the century items – stuff you just don’t see anywhere else, or may never see again.

“We try to keep an array of items people can’t get anywhere else,” Smith said, flipping on lights as if entering a dressing room at Universal Studios. “Mostly we like things from the 40s through the 80s.”

Indeed, absent the dust and cobwebs, a quick glance in any direction yields an image of a deceased eccentric aunt’s attic.

The obvious question from a first-time visitor is “Where does this stuff come from?”

“Ninety percent of it comes to us through the front door,” she said, “although it would not be unusual for me to go to a garage sale, or climb into a Dumpster for that matter. I’m a collector. I love it.”

What makes Curb Traders unique – aside from its incredibly eclectic merchandise – is the fact that Smith trades for most of the items she sells.

“We give immediate in-store credit,” she said. “You don’t have to wait for it to sell.”

As an example she points to the top from a one-of-a-kind, 1940s pinball machine. Hanging from the wall, the uniquely handsome artifact would be a conversation piece in any room. At curb traders, it almost blends in among the rest of the treasures.

“A woman brought this in and took clothes for trade,” she said. “Now it’s ours to sell or barter.”

Admittedly not the place for the rock-bottom thrift shopper, Curb Traders draws customers from all over the West, Smith said.

“We get people from California or Portland who might be visiting friends and family,” she said. “They stop in every time they’re in town and say they just can’t get this kind of stuff anywhere else.”

To help cover the rent on her large space, Smith has welcomed a number of smaller businesses that complement her wares. Lucile’s offers fashionable and functional San Diego Hats, scarves and purses, and Business Between the Worlds sells incense, oils and herbs. Curb Traders also sells handmade crafts on consignment.

In the last year, as the national economy has slowed, Smith said more people have been coming in and trading instead of buying with cash. She’s noticed a difference.

“The economy has been hard on everybody, but I think people have become smarter about how they buy and trade. Bitterrooters are savvy shoppers – that’s always been the case.”

On the way out of town, toward Missoula, just past Woodside on Highway 93, the Tack Shack offers saddles, tack and Western merchandise on consignment. Sisters Launa Bos and Julie Mosbrucker opened their business less than four months ago on January 13th.

According to Mosbrucker, the idea to start a consignment tack shop came from her sister’s frustration at how expensive new items are.

“Launa was looking for a saddle and couldn’t afford a brand new one,” she said. “Since nobody has money, we figured if we opened a consignment tack shop people would come in.”

The sisters made up and posted flyers explaining their business idea, and in a matter of months they had a store full of saddles, saddle pads, breast collars, bozals and head stalls. And since Western Montana is horse country, they’ve received a great response from the community.

“Brand new custom-made saddles can go for two or three grand up,” Mosbrucker said. “We sell them for a lot cheaper.”

Of the dozens of saddles the Tack Shack has in stock, prices range from $200 for a kids saddle to $2,000 for a custom-made horsehair saddle with a rough-cut seat. Most of the saddles sell for $500 to $700.

In addition to saddles and tack, the Tack Shack sells a variety of Western-style jewelry and artwork, from Pat Baker paintings to Ardosia stonework. They also sell Western clothing and, of course, cowboy boots.

The mark-up on a saddle is 25 percent, Mosbrucker said, unless it’s priced at more than $1,000, in which case it’s 15 percent. Tack and bridles get marked up 35 percent and clothes 50 percent.

In the few short months they’ve been in business, Mosbrucker said they’ve sold a lot of saddles.

“It’s a rough time for people now,” she said, “I know I’d rather buy something used if it’s in good shape than buy something brand new.”

And although they have dozens of saddles, she said they’ll take as many more as they can get.

“We’re definitely taking consignments,” she said. “The more we have here the better.”

Down the road past the Stevensville Wye, Verna Massey is in her seventh month as owner of Repeat Boutique, a consignment clothing store with a 14-year history in the valley.

A first-time business owner, Massey’s introduction to consignment stores began about five years ago when she was pregnant with her daughter.

“I had been working full time and I made a decision to be a stay-at-home mom,” she said. “I had always shopped new, but in order to cut costs, I decided to try shopping at consignment stores.”

Initially she equated consignment shopping with thrift stores, but right away, Massey said, she was surprised to find that the clothes she bought at consignment stores were in really good shape.

“Almost overnight, I became a fan of consignment shopping,” she said.

The next enlightenment came when she was shopping for baby clothes for her daughter.

“I realized the environmental impact of new clothes,” she said. “New clothes have all kinds of chemicals on them. All the clothes that come in to consignment stores have the chemicals washed away, so they’re gentler on babies’ skin.”

On top of that, she said, children, especially babies, only wear clothes for a short time, so buying and selling on consignment makes more sense.

Having become a dyed-in-the-wool consignment clothing shopper, Massey and her husband decided to buy an established consignment clothing store at a time when the nation’s economy was, by all accounts, heading south. Part of the impetus for that decision, she said, was the idea that, in a struggling economy, more people would be inclined to save money by buying used instead of new clothing.

Repeat Boutique carries nearly new and gently used clothing for the entire family, from newborns to men, including maternity wear. It also sells baby gear and toys.

Massey offers store credit and cash to people after their items sell.

“The cash part is important, because many of the families that come in here really need the money,” she said. “The average consignor holds a balance of $50, and they can come in and take the cash at any time. It makes me feel so good when a mom with kids comes in and takes her cash to buy groceries.”

On of the biggest misconceptions about consignment clothing stores, Massey said, is that they are like thrift stores or pawn shops.

“We have very high standards for what we accept,” she said. “I’m extremely picky about what I take. And what I don’t take goes into the donation room.”

Two different non-profit groups come in every week and collect the donated items which are then distributed to folks who need them.

Aside from selling used items at a fraction of the cost of new, the three stores featured in this article have another thing in common. The women who work at the store bring their kids to work. At a time when every dollar counts, independent business owners who make accommodations for their children to come to work save hundreds of dollars a month on childcare.

“I couldn’t do it any other way,” Mosbrucker said. “Childcare is just too expensive.”

Massey concurs. “Bringing my daughter to work allows us to spend more time together,” she said. “She has her own room in the back and plenty of stuff to keep her occupied.”