Annette Cyr is an entrepreneur and that’s no easy undertaking these days but she thinks she’s picked the right niche market with her Kid to Kid franchise in Covington.

“I think we opened the right store at the right time,” Cyr said. “We were looking for the right business model. Plus we wanted something recession proof.”

Kid to Kid is a franchise with 72 locations across the country. Cyr’s store, which opened in near Kohl’s in Covington in December, is the first in the state.

The business model allows Cyr to offer a mix of brand new items and gently used merchandise.

“We’re not consignment,” she said. “We pay cash for gently used kids items. We want people to feel good about buying and selling second hand.”

It’s a brightly lit, clean store with hardwood floors, a play area for youngsters that allows parents to shop and an entire wall lined with toys. Another wall is dedicated to shoes. There are clothes for everyone from pregnant moms to size 12 for kids organized by age. Cyr even stocks matching items for twins.

“There aren’t a lot of stores around here that sell maternity clothes and we only put up good things on our hangers,” she said. “Some of the things we try to do is make it easy to shop because moms are usually shopping with one hand or no hands.”

Cyr understands the needs of moms as she has a daughter, Angelique, 5, and a 3-year-old son Nicholas.

“This has become my life,” she said. “They think I own a toy store. They love to go to mommy’s store.”

Running a Kid to Kid has been an aspiration for Cyr for some time. It took about 18 months to go from the idea of starting one in the area to getting the doors open.

Once the space in the building near Kohl’s opened up — it had been on hold for a year for a medical company that released its rights last summer — things really started moving since they had the money and the concept in place.

And locating in Covington seemed like a natural fit for Cyr who lives just 10 minutes away in north Auburn.

“There’s lots of growing families and it’s a growing area,” she said. “There weren’t a lot of options for kids items in this area without going to Southcenter or the Super Mall. So we’re trying to fill a niche.”

Her short term goals are simple.

“Just getting traffic in the door so people can see what we’re all about,” Cyr said. “Showing them that they’re not compromising when they buy second hand.”