In a search four years ago to fill her free time, a Riverside Healthcare crisis counselor has wound up filling 19,000 square feet of retail space.

Embrace, a consignment store featuring clothing, furniture and sports equipment in the Shoppes at Meadowview complex in Kankakee, has grown at a rate that owner Julie Jones never envisioned.

"I have to be honest. We had no idea how this store would be received by the community," the 45-year-old Jones said. "I never even ran a consignment store. I'm a social worker. I had no idea."

It has grown at such a pace that the business now is housed in three storefronts in the northeast portion of Meadowview that once were the locations for Woolworth, Maling Shoes and Ted's Shoes.

Because her job as a counselor runs along much the same schedule as a school schedule, Jones, of Kankakee, had free time in the summer months. To fill that void, she contemplated gaining further education or starting a business.

Without any experience she opened a consignment shop four years ago.

"I needed to do something. It's been an amazing four years."

Embrace has been in business since July 2009. The business began in a 6,000-square-foot location in the Village Square Shopping Center in Bradley, just south of where Turk Furniture is located.

However, Jones and her sister, Angie Tuntland, 47, who serves as the consignment shop's general manager, could see that they would eventually surpass what the location could accommodate.

Once Jones could see the business was going to burst through its walls in Bradley, the quest for a new location began. She read newspaper stories about the vision the new ownership group had for the Meadowview Shopping Center, so she gave them a call inquiring about available space.

She instantly fell in love. A 10-year lease that began June 1, 2012, with the center's new owners, Terraco, Inc., and Frontline Real Estate Partners, was signed. While many people celebrated Memorial Day weekend 2012 with backyard barbecues, Embrace employees packed up the Bradley store and moved the contents to Kankakee.

Jones, a 1985 Herscher High School graduate and 1998 Olivet Nazarene University social work major, and Tuntland then held their breath. Would shoppers and consigners follow them?

That answer came quickly. Since the move, sales have increased by 30 percent, Jones said. Some 20,000 items now are on display as floor space went from 6,000 square feet to 19,000.

Of the approximate 6,700 consigners, Tuntland said three-quarters of them are Kankakee County residents. At any point in time, the store has about $175,000 of merchandise available for sale.

An estimated 200 shoppers come through the store on a daily basis. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tuntland said many customers come through the store multiple times per week because new merchandise is put out daily.

"I didn't know how this store would be received by the community. We didn't know if we'd have merchandise to fill it," Tuntland said. The sisters have been blown away.

Bill Yonka, Kankakee's economic development director, said Jones and Tuntland have demonstrated that if a quality product is presented in a quality presentation, success shouldn't cause surprise.

"They have raised the bar for this type of business," he said. "They've make it a nice shopping experience and that's why they have success. They take pride in their work, and they are savvy business people. It's a win for them and a win for Meadowview."

So what is a consignment store? In simple terms it's a place where people look to sell used clothing, furniture or sports equipment. Instead of doing that on a Saturday in their garage, it's brought to a central location. More product brings more shoppers which leads to better opportunity to sell the merchandise.

Jones then splits the sale with its owner. Clothing sales are split down the middle. Furniture is done on a 70/30 ratio, the majority going to the furniture owner.

Items are thoroughly inspected, and not all that are brought in make it to a display rack. For example, pants with a hole, a stain or broken ripper are not available for sale. A shirt with a missing button or thread-worn elbows are refused. Out-of-style clothing also doesn't get to a display rack.

"We get comments all the time that 'You guys are going to take the entire shopping center over,'" Jones chuckled. "That's not the case obviously, but I will say I never envisioned this. This amazes me every day. ... Timing in life is everything. This all just worked out."