FROM LEFT, CO-OWNERS Cassy Hendricks and Ashley Maenpaa at their Echo Boutique, formerly Consignment Mamas, in downtown Iron Mountain. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — After a year and a half in business, Consignment Mamas in downtown Iron Mountain has become Echo Boutique.

Owners Cassy Hendricks and Ashley Maenpaa said they made the change in name and operation to get away from consignment sales. They are now buying merchandise outright for resale.

“It basically skips the middle step, saves time,” Maenpaa said. “It’s just a lot easier.”

The business partners first met through a mutual friend at a “girls night out” in 2012 while Hendricks’ husband, Patrick, was in Afghanistan.

Both young mothers — Hendricks now has three sons and a daughter, Maenpaa three daughters — they also found they had some mutual interests and ways of doing things.

“Cassy and I,” Maenpaa said, “are very spontaneous.”

Hendricks added, “And we work very well with each other, bounce ideas off each other.”

They started out selling items online from their homes, networking with others who do resale and consignment in the region. They said they were drawn to this type of business because “I like that we can use our own ideas; it’s not corporate,” Maenpaa said.

“We’re our own bosses,” Hendricks said, adding with a laugh, “and we get first dibs on the cute stuff.”

But it soon became apparent demand was exceeding what the pair could easily accommodate from their homes.

“People were always stopping by, so we figured we should just get a location,” Hendricks said.

They originally targeted a building near Iron Mountain High School, but that plan fell through, Maenpaa said. Then they found the downtown site at 224 E. Hughitt St.

“We love it down here. It’s busy,” Maenpaa said.

Creating the shop has been “exciting and overwhelming,” Hendricks said. In the first year, they “learned what sells and what doesn’t sell,” she said, adding, “we base it on current and trending fashions.”

The store stocks apparel for women and men, children, maternity and plus sizes, along with shoes and accessories. The partners only accept items that are in good shape — almost-new, they term it — and freshly laundered, brought in baskets or totes, not bags or hangers. The seasons also shape what they will take into the store.

Those bringing in items must make an appointment so the partners have a chance to assess to make an offer. Payment can be in cash or in-store credit. For more information on the process, go online to echoboutiqueim.com.

They also still take in higher-ticket items on consignment, such as prom dresses and formal attire.

As the only resale store in Iron Mountain, “it’s been much-needed in this town,” Hendricks said. “You would not believe how many people love it.”