AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Sale after sale, the Bella Kids consignment pop-up store has become a staple shop in Western New York. 7 News has visited the pop ups every year since its opening in 2012, and it's become bigger and better each time.
A one-stop shop for families, shoppers and consignors look forward to the pop-up every season.
It's super crazy deals. I decided to apply and join the team as worker and also shop. Kristi is amazing!
The deals are amazing. You cannot believe some of the finds that you can get.
It's way cheaper than any store. It's very reasonable, very clean.
I just bought a whole bag of clothes for $45 which would've cost me well over $100 in any retail store.
My sister raves about it. Finding everything in one place is great.
The shop offers clothes, toys and other household necessities like cribs. The idea of Bella Kids started when Clarence native Kristi Mora became a new mom herself while teaching in California.
"My girlfriend introduced me to a consignment pop up sale in orange county and I did it once and thought, this thing is amazing," Mora said. "It helps a community of young families."
When Mora was introduced to consignment pop-up, she had began her plan to move back home to Western New York. After going to the shop, she immediately thought of bring this concept back home.
"This would be a great idea for when I get back home to Buffalo," Mora said. "For about 6 months, I would build the website. Create a business plan and start promoting it from afar. I was actually living in California promoting Bella Kids into existence."
Kristi moved back home to Buffalo in 2012. At first, her family, friends and colleagues back in Southern California were perplexed by her idea to move back to Buffalo.
"I wanted to go somewhere where I don't know anybody and spread my wings a little bit," Mora said. "I always knew I was going to come back home. It was never permanent."
A big part of the move was to raise her kids back in the same culture as she was — the culture of the City of Good Neighbors.
"[The culture] is a Buffalo thing. I didn't feel that sense of community when living in Southern California," Mora said. "Our family always welcomed our neighbors, or friends of friends who didn't have anywhere else to go. That's Buffalo."
Kristi moved back home in 2012. Three months after the move, the first Bella Kids pop-up shop opened. The shop is named after Kristi's daughter, Bella.
In its first several years, Kristi viewed the shop just as a hobby, allowing her the chance to raise her kids while also working. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Kristi learned this shop is going to turn into more than just a hobby.
"I had families reaching out to me on social media, email, texting me like "Kristi when is the next sale? I need to make extra money. My kid needs the next size of clothes"," Mora said. "Whatever it was, when is it gonna happen. That’s when i was like wow. People count on me."
Now, over a decade in, the pop-up has grown from a small retail space to filling up the space of an old TJ-Maxx. The first pop-up sale started with just 40 consignors with the latest pop-ups hosting over 700 and selling over 70,000 items. Through the years, Kristi's favorite part is connecting with the consignors and the shoppers.
"It’s been really special to get to know them. I look forward to seeing them. They look forward to seeing me and catch up on what we’ve missed in the last three months since the sale before," Mora said. "Now that we’ve been in business for 12-13 years, we’re onto the second generation of families."
Mora built a comfortable life with an established teaching career in California. She knew however, because of the culture of Buffalo and the desire to give back to her home, she need to come back. Now, Bella Kids has turned into everything she wanted to do for Buffalo.
"I have my family to thank for my compassion and empathy for others. And trying help others," Mora said. "You know, whatever I can do in a small way, I hope it helps people even just for a season."
Along with bringing affordable household items to the community of Western New York, Bella Kids partners with a local organization every pop-up sale. When items don't sell at the conclusion of pop-ups, the remaining items — if the consignor chooses to — is donated.
Bella Kids and Kristi is yet another example of the great people of Western New York, selflessly giving back to the community they love.
The next Bella Kids pop-up sale is set to run from April 12th-14th, 2024.
If you're interested in consigning, you can sign up to sell your items right now for just $8 to be a consignor. The link to sign up is here.
