Smarty Guide to the CMOMS Sale

By Guest Blogger, Claire B & a few random tips from Jen P!

The changing of the seasons is such a refreshing time. Summer is just starting to get old, your swimsuit is fading, the stores are full of fresh new fall outfits. We start looking ahead to the beginning of (pre)school, holidays, and the chance of cooler temperatures that will require long sleeves and pants. But with the cooler temps comes the need for new clothes for those kiddos. You know, the ones who have grown six inches in the last 2 months, regardless of that brick you’ve tried placing on their heads each night. And let’s not even get started on shoes…Luckily there is a thrifty option to finding all the kids clothes and gear you could possibly imagine, and it is coming up this weekend!

The Charlotte Mothers of Multiples (CMOMS for short) will be hosting their Fall Consignment Sale on August 8th. The sale is held each year in the spring and fall at the Charlotte Metrolina Expo Trade Center on Statesville Road. This is seriously the mother of all consignment sales, since almost all the sellers have multiples! This means that generally every seller has two of everything to unload- onesies, jeans, dresses, toys, sippy cups. You name it, they have it for sale in duplicate, sometimes triplicate or quadruplicate!

The Charlotte Mothers of Multiples club has over 500 members, and many members participate in the sale, since it is such a fantastic way to shop for twins without breaking the bank. This makes for a tremendous amount of baby and children’s stuff- it FILLS a warehouse-sized building at the Expo from end to end. But you do not have to have twins to shop! The Early Bird sale begins at 7:30 a.m. and costs $2 to enter. Entry is free at 8:30. They will also mark items down for a half price sale from 12:30-2:30pm.

Here are some Smarty tips to keep in mind when shopping:
1. Bring your own bin or bag to carry purchases. NO ROLLING CARTS or STROLLERS are allowed. A great way to keep your hands free for shopping but get all your stuff around is to bring a laundry basket with a belt attached so you can drag it along behind you (feels a little silly, I know, but all the cool kids will be doing it).
2. There is a High End Boutique section for swankier clothes. Smocked dresses, john johns and more can be found in this roped-off section (lots of Jen P’s clothes will be here, uh-hmmm!). You’ll have to pay for these items separately at the High End register, but you can score some excellent deals on higher end children’s duds.
3. The sale is CASH-ONLY! So make sure you bring more than you think you’ll need! There is an ATM nearby should you need more dough for all your purchases, but who wants to pay a surcharge?
4. Be sure to check out our awesome vendor area located just outside the sale building (yay for the CSP vendor table!!). This is usually chock full of vendors with more cute kids stuff, Pampered Chef, Storybooks, Tupperware, and more! Two of Jen P’s all-time favorite vendors at the sale are the cool hair bow chick – she has the grooviest hand-made dragonfly hair clips for all ages at a great price and the Tervis Tumbler/Tupperware chick (you have to check out the newest Tervis Tumblers perfect for little ones and with no-spill lids to boot)!
5. There is also a raffle to win a USA BABY Crib! All proceeds from the raffle support the CMOMs club. The drawing will be held on the 8th, but you do not have to be present to win.

If you need any more information about the sale you can visit www.cmoms.net. There you’ll find directions to the sale, as well as more info about sale sponsors, and a sale timeline. Happy Shopping!

P.S. Get your fall kicks at kixx! Register to win our latest giveaway, a $100 gift certificate at kixx shoes in Parktowne Village. In addition to one lucky Smarty winning some serious coin, the rest of us can benefit from their fabulous Back-to-School promotion from August 7-23. You get $5 off your first pair of shoes, $7 off the second, $9 off the third and well, you can do the math. For our shopping pleasure, every Sunday during their Back-to-School sale, kixx will offer special promotional hours from 12n-4p (August 9, 17 and 23). Rock yourself on kixx and good luck to our Smarty readers! This giveaway ends at 11p on Sunday, August 9th.