The location of her business is important to Sissy Atkins Blackwood — the place where she has settled to live and to open a shop that for her is as much fun as it is work.

At Consign & Design, 212 S. Pearl St., the historic house and its inviting front porch have become a center of the neighborhood, with people stopping to visit and to browse.

“So many people stop here,” she said. “I’ve met so many people, and many of them have become good friends.”

A warm and friendly gesture brought new friends to her door when she donated furniture to Hurricane Katrina evacuees soon after the storm sent many hundreds to find new homes in Natchez.

“I like to think people repay you, return the favor,” Blackwood said. “Word got around, and I’m still meeting people from Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”

Her consignment shop is pleasant and manageable — plenty of room to walk around and look at the varied assortment of furniture, accessories for the home, vintage clothing and jewelry and other items.

Why she opened the studio after a successful career as a photographer is sometimes puzzling to her, Blackwood said. “What was I thinking to do this? Well, I’ve always been interested in making something out of nothing. It always breaks my heart to see someone throw out things.”

Friends who knew her talents for making something from nothing suggested that she open the shop. She decided that was a good idea and did so about four years ago.

“So I called my friends and asked them to bring things and opened my shop with $145,” she said. “I used the $145 to have business cards made, and I took them everywhere and gave them to everyone.”

She opened two rooms at first. Now she has eight, and they all are filled with merchandise. “I live upstairs,” she said. “You can’t walk into my attic. And my storage place is filled. And I’m talking about things I have bought for the shop.”

Blackwood said the one thing most important to success at the shop is change. She rearranges and she brings in new merchandise often. “I probably rearrange the shop two times a week. And consignments come in regularly. I’ve never been low on merchandise,” she said.

Changing and adding new merchandise is the fun she has with the business. “It just gets better. People see what I have and then want to do business with me,” she said.

Consignments work easily. “If it doesn’t sell in 30 days, I mark it down. I get 40 percent of things consigned and sold, but it does not cost anything to put something in the shop on consignment,” she said. “After 90 days, they pick up the items or re-consign them at a lower price. That’s been great for everyone. It doesn’t cost a dime.”

Traveling to places where she can find new items to interest her customers is a pleasure, Blackwood said. “I’ve gone to Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, all around Louisiana, and I go to places that my customers might not go in. I’ve even knocked on people’s doors when they have things on their front porches.”

It works. Her customers are loyal and are excited when they know she has been on a buying trip. She is open Wednesday through Saturday, using Monday and Tuesday for taking in new inventory or going out to shop for people who have given her wish lists, she said.

She enjoys the anticipation she sees in her customers who come on Wednesday to see what new things she has bought.

She has the same feeling when she goes to sales to purchase items and finds her heart beating fast in anticipation, hoping that no one will buy a coveted item before she has the chance to get it.

“People see that I like what I do,” she said. “My prices are very reasonable, and that’s the secret. Move it out and replenish. That brings buyers back.”