Consignment Sale Recap

Our second annual Consignment Sale was a success!

It's always a fun event, for several reasons.

First, from a staff perspective, it's a LOT of hard work. BUT...it's fun because we rarely get to work with all the staff at once. In case you haven't noticed, we actually LIKE working together and have fun in the process. This is one of those events where we need all hands on deck.

One question that popped up over a dozen times was "Is this a going out of business sale?" Well...HELLO...if we WERE going out of business - which we are NOT - why would we be selling our customers' products? This is an event where we allow the CUSTOMERS the chance to sell their old stuff and upgrade it with NEW stuff. It's a win/win event...it's good for our customers and it's good for our store. (In all fairness, I will cut some slack to all the new people who wandered in after seeing the SALE banner.)

So...as customers bring in all their boxes, bags, laundry baskets, buckets and tubs full of products, we place them in the crop room.



Then, we start sorting the items, one by one, in categories. All the punches on one table, dies on another, totes over there, etc. etc. This is the step that requires many, many hours. And, it's constant process of sorting, resorting and sorting again. It's sorta like cleaning out your closet...it just never seems to end and always gets worse before it gets better :)



We work right up until opening time making sure the store is ready for extra traffic. The SALE banner goes up, the second register is opened, the air conditioner gets set a little lower and the staff is updated with the latest information so that we can best answer your questions and reduce your wait time at checkout. It was raining this year, so we let our customers form a line in the store. Who wants to wait in the rain?!? The OPEN sign gets turned on at 10 and the craziness begins! (The picture below was taken in the afternoon because I couldn't even get close to the crop room in the morning. It's always super packed in the morning as the early bird is trying to find her worm.)



The sale lasts from Saturday to Monday. The entire time you are buying, we are straightening up the products, rearranging them in their containers and spreading things out so that they can be seen better. And...when I say we...I am referring to our staff AND our wonderful set of volunteers. Our volunteers did a great job...THANK YOU!



When the sale ended Monday evening, our work was only half complete. We had a private crop coming in at 10 a.m. the next morning, so the room had to be emptied and cleaned. Early Tuesday morning, Anna, Michelle and I came in early and sorted every last item back into their original boxes. We were seriously busting butt!

In the end, the sale was a huge success. The average seller made $179.59 that they can now use to buy new products in our store through the end of the year. The items that the sellers did not want back will be donated to a local elementary school. The art department, teachers and after school program (run by the Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation) will all benefit. (We've already made one trip with 8 boxes of supplies! The rest will be delivered next week.)

A special thanks to Anna and Michelle who worked many hours setting up and 'tearing down' and to our entire staff for making this event run smoothly.

For those who shopped the sale items, we know you found some incredible deals. Thank you for your continued support!