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By LAURA FRAZIER

lfrazier@tampatrib.com

Published: January 21, 2009

BRANDON - Folks with New Year's resolutions to finally get fit typically pack Play It Again Sports in LaViva Plaza in January in search of treadmills, elliptical machines and various other devices designed to torture the average couch potato.

New fitness gear is usually a hot ticket this time of year at the store, where customers can buy, sell or trade new and used merchandise.

But manager Keith Wolf said lean economic times may be to blame for a shift in sales of new rather than used equipment. This year, the new equipment is gathering dust, and he can't keep enough used equipment on the floor for people who want to lose weight but not a lot of cash.

"We are completely out of used fitness equipment, and no one is buying the new stuff," Wolf said last week.

Other merchants who deal in resale merchandise at the plaza at Lumsden Road and Kings Avenue also noted similar economy-related shifts in their sales and consignment business.

Lorie Nixon, assistant manager of Once Upon A Child, said customers who previously consigned their children's outgrown clothes and toys there now also come to the shop empty-handed.

"Lots of people who used to only sell their things now also buy things here," she said.

She also has seen an increase in regular consignors who used to take checks for their sold items.

"A lot of them now take store credit and buy things for their own kids. You get more for your money that way."

Customers completing consignment transactions often share tales of their financial troubles.

"They'll say, 'My husband's out of a job, and we need to sell these things for money to pay the bills.'"

Even gainfully employed shoppers seem to be more value-conscious these days, Nixon said.

Caron Harvey shopped with daughters Brooke, 2, and Briana, 4. They picked through the racks looking for a leotard for Briana to wear to gymnastics class.

Harvey bought winter clothes for her children there for a trip to Sweden last year.

"I paid $6 for a beautiful parka that would have cost $100, if you could even find one at a local store," she said. "They even have snowsuits here."

Down the row of shops, Jane Rogers and her son, Richard Rogers, made the most of a very slow recent day by rearranging antiques and collectibles at their store, Somewhere In Time.

Jane Rogers said sales are lagging at the shop, which is stocked from floor to ceiling with merchandise.

"I can't say things are really bad yet, but people are doing more browsing and less buying," she said. "It's hard to say what it's going to be like in the coming year. It's a little scary."

In her 20 years in the antiques business, Rogers has seen many types of antiques and collectibles rise and fall in popularity. These days, the most popular items are "anything that only costs five or 10 dollars," she said. "It's like people don't really have the money to spend, but they still want to browse and buy a little something."

At Encore Boutique, Julie Grimes put price tags on the latest load of women's clothes a customer dropped off for consignment. Neatly organized garment racks in the shop are overloaded with merchandise, and a storeroom in the back holds more items for sale.

"People are looking for any way they can to make extra money. They're really trying to push stuff," Grimes said.

Space is such an issue that she too often must turn away people with items they want - or need - to sell. After a slow December, sales picked up somewhat in the first few weeks of January, but it's still not enough to keep pace with the overstock.

"It's just that I don't have enough room on the floor. I can't move it fast enough."

At Sound Exchange, Alissa Williams picked through a bin of used DVDs. She was on a hunt for movies for herself and her nieces, Charla Harris, 4, and Kamille Martin, 1.

She watches a lot of movies but shuns rentals and instead buys used DVDs.

"I come here all the time because it's cheaper," she said. "I don't care if it's used."

Manager Rob Butcher said movies priced at $3.99 and up in his budget DVD bin are best-selling items.

"You can't rent a movie for that price," he said.

It's not unusual, he said, for people to come into his shop, heft a box of CDs onto the counter and say, "I need gas. Will you buy my CDs?"

Even customers who tell him they are employed and managing to pay their bills appear to be watching every penny.

"If they buy a CD here instead of Wal-Mart, they save six or seven dollars," he said. "That's lunch tomorrow."

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523.

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