Back-to-school sales at upscale consignment stores are expected to soar due to the recession.

Kathy Matula, owner of the Children?s Attic in Darien, says she's already had more people than last August coming in to sell their gently used and designer kids clothes.

Clients bring in their clothing and get 50 percent of whatever Matula sells it for. The buyer winds up paying half what it would cost in a department store. And while the buyers are saving money, the sellers are making money.

Matula adds last October when the economy was just beginning to slow, she saw a 33 percent increase in sales from the previous year. This year, she expects that number to go up even more.