Back-to-back Gold for Best Consignment/Thrift Store in 2023 and 2024 tells you everything about the hold that Next To New Shop has on the Finger Lakes secondhand market. Located at 385 Waterloo Geneva Road in Waterloo, this is a specialty consignment operation focused almost entirely on children's items — clothing, maternity wear, toys, and furniture — and that tight focus is exactly what makes it dominate.

Parents in the Finger Lakes know the math: kids grow out of clothes in weeks, expensive toys hold their attention for days, and furniture that cost hundreds new will be outgrown before it shows wear. Next To New exists to close that gap, offering gently used children's items at prices that make the relentless cycle of outgrowing things financially survivable. The inventory is curated for quality and condition — this is not a bin-diving operation — and the selection is broad enough to outfit a child from infancy through elementary school. Maternity wear fills another genuine need in a region where the nearest specialty maternity store might be a forty-five-minute drive.

What makes Next To New remarkable is the loyalty it inspires. Parents who buy here also consign here, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem where last year's winter coat becomes this year's affordable find for another family. That circular model builds community in a way that conventional retail simply cannot. The back-to-back Gold wins are not just about good merchandise at good prices — they reflect the emotional connection that families in the Geneva-Waterloo-Seneca Falls corridor feel toward a shop that genuinely understands what they need and makes it accessible.