To the editor:

This morning at a garage sale in Lawrence I observed something that I think the rest of the Lawrence community should know about. At 8 a.m., when this particular garage sale opened, a representative from one of our local children’s consignment stores arrived and bought numerous items, including a baby changing table and crib set.

While this may sound innocuous enough, I would like to point out for those who do not regularly attend garage sales that many people (primarily women) depend on garage sales as a primary source to provide for themselves and their families. They cannot afford the occasional trip to Target or to the local consignment shops, the latter of which have markups that I assure you are considerable from what one would pay for items at a garage sale.

Although the practice of buying items for resale at garage sales, particularly children’s items, may be commonplace in other communities, I think we have a right to expect better practices from our local business owners.

Jennifer Wosmek,

Lawrence