The Charm of Shopping at Karma

By: Jennifer Bladykas
Posted In: News

It is every retailer’s worst nightmare: the customer from hell. Walking in, talking loudly on her cell phone, Mrs. “X,” clad in a white velour sweat suit, totes a faded red Chanel bag. She gives no eye contact and as soon as the conversation has ended, the complaining begins.

“Honey,” she says, in an accent that is lost between the Brooklyn Bridge and Boston, “These belts aren’t that special. Why should I buy them here when I can get them on the corner for five dollars?”

Now, this is usually the part where any normal merchant would roll his or her eyes at the badgering Mrs. “X” and give up on trying to make a sale. However, this is not the case for Judy and Joy Catuogno, owners of the store Karma, a high-end designer consignment shop located on lower Thames in Newport.

So, while Mrs. “X” should have been told that she belonged out on the corner with the $5 belts, Joy and Judy just sighed, smiled, and apologized, saying that they were helping out a friend and couldn’t lower the price any more than they already had.

While they’ve been called icons, rock stars, and idols, notorious, famous and crazy, these self-proclaimed “fashion Nazis” are anything but unpleasant. Despite the fact that they look like they’ve stepped off the red carpet, there is nothing “Hollywood” about them.

Known around town as the “Newport Twins,” Joy and Judy Catuogno have provided the city of Newport with designer fashions at a fraction of the cost of similar retail items for over three years. However, their road to high fashion began with much humbler ambitions.

Judy, dressed in black Anti-Flirt sweats, her hair pulled back with sunglasses, explains that the decision to open up a business with her twin, Joy, came at a time when they were both going through hardships.

“Basically, we both got divorced,” explains Joy and Judy in unison.

With their lives heading in drastically new directions, the twins quit their jobs and decided to work together to open a business that fit both their wants and personalities. “We’re both shopaholics and we noticed that Newport, at the time, didn’t have what we wanted to offer, which is a high-end consignment shop,” the twins explain.

So, in April of 2001, the twins opened the doors to Karma, using the mantra, “what goes around comes around,” as their slogan. And they aren’t just talking about the clothes.

“We’re like a pub during the day,” exclaims Joy, the sound of her laughter diminishing the Tony Bennett playing in a background to a mere whisper. “No booze, just good fashion!”

With their divorces behind them, Joy and Judy wanted to step in as ambassadors to women. “We help desperate women,” explains Joy. Whether it’s a high profile New Yorker who needs to sell off pieces from her shopping addiction, or a woman recovering from breast cancer who needs an update-both in spirit and in style, Joy and Judy happily take on the role as advocates, therapists, and friends.

“People don’t just spend a couple of minutes in here; they spend hours,” chimes in Judy. “You get to know their whole world, their whole life.”

The Road to Consignment

Growing up, Joy and Judy would defy the norms by dressing in clothing they found in warehouses in Boston. These “used clothing” stores helped to set the stage for what they would be able to offer in their own business one day.

“We’re allergic to anything preppy,” say the twins with a laugh. “We’ll sell it, but what’s great about our store is we get to pick and choose vintage pieces, stuff that’s really exciting.”

This freedom to pick and choose has allowed Joy and Judy the opportunity to get to know not only their own customers, but also the people they choose to consign with.

“We never own the clothes,” says Judy, who explains that people who consign with Karma have the opportunity to receive half of what the twins receive. Moreover, according to A B C, a community and special event guide for Aquidneck Island, Bristol and Connecticut, Karma lives up to its name by offering every consigner the opportunity to donate the proceeds of their item to the Breast Health Center at Women’s and Infants Hospital and Project Aids Rhode Island.

When it comes down to it, Joy and Judy are really just incorporating their love of fashion to reach out to people they never would have known.

“Because we are a consignment shop, we get people who come in really excited, because this is the only way they’d be able to afford that designer,” says Judy.

With the mention of designers, Joy, standing proud in her vintage Levi’s with a belt from a similar era inscribed with the word “Texas,” begins to rattle off the lists of designers that they carry from their consigners. Names like Chanel, Prada, Gucci, and Versace roll off her tongue as easily as if they were items on a grocery list.

Although they are a consignment shop, Joy and Judy want others to know that they do differ from other vintage stores around town, such as the Broken Toaster or Closet Revival.

“Most of our stuff still comes in with the tags on!” exclaims Joy. Also, because they are a designer consignment shop, Judy and Joy are able to offer local designers a chance at making it big by selling their items through the shop.

With a style and an attitude of their own (and with a little help from the clothes of others) Joy and Judy Catuogno have instilled good karma throughout the town of Newport. “It’s never a dull moment with Joy and Judy,” says Kristine Hendrickson, longtime friend and occasional runway model for the twins. “You’re always in for an adventure.”

“We’re either famous or notorious, but we’ve made quite an impression on this little town,” jokes the twins. “Newport needs us!”

And for the occasional Mrs. “X,” Joy and Judy stick to the mantra that has made them famous for the past 3 years: “What goes around comes around.”