Laura’s mom raises alpacas on their farm, Stirling Ridge. Alpacas look like small llamas, but they’re not. If you call them llamas, Mom will be cheerful and gracious, but she gets that a lot.
Every small business owner has something like that – that one little thing they’ll probably be explaining for as long as they have their business. Or longer – I’ve stopped trying to explain that my parents’ gelato shop is different from the ice cream store they ran for over 20 years – I can’t imagine how many times they’ve encountered that confusion.
For us, it looks like that one little thing will be the difference between our store and a thrift store. And we’d be happy if we had to answer that question for the rest of our lives.
How are thrift stores and consignment shops alike?
Thrift stores and consignment shops share some similarities. Both primarily sell pre-worn clothes, accessories, and often household items. Both offer items at significantly lower prices than brand-name retail stores, and both are great ways to reuse and recycle.
How are they different?
The ways thrift stores and consignment shops differ can be group into three categories: source of goods, product quality, and pricing. Read More »
Tagged: local, thrift
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- September 2, 2009 – 6:35 am
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- By Austin Storm
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Laura’s working on a ‘How to Consign’ Brochure that will also become a promotional e-mail. Here’s a sneak preview – it’s looking great. Text and everything’s not final, so don’t squint to read it. 
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- July 8, 2009 – 6:57 pm
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- By Austin Storm
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Laura had some fun taking pictures of some of the inventory today while waiting for company to arrive. Happy 4th of July!
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- July 4, 2009 – 6:56 pm
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- By Austin Storm
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We still don’t have a location for the store (stay tuned…) but we are working on a series of promotional posters to paper the town with as soon as we reach that milestone. Our tagline is “Independent Consignment & Local Goods”, but these are additional slogans for marketing purposes. I’ve come up with a few ideas, but could certainly use more. Read More »
Tagged: marketing, poster, slogan
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- July 1, 2009 – 10:45 am
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- By Austin Storm
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I had to resist the temptation to end this post’s title with an exclamation point. Once you go down that road, there’s no coming back.
We got some great clothing racks a few days ago. I’m trying to get some pictures to post on the blog – we may have to set up one or two in our apartment to contain the pile of future inventory. We’re already trying to find the balance between being selective about the stuff we carry and having enough inventory for opening day in a few months.
But the biggest challenge at this point is to find the perfect downtown Moscow retail location for the store. There are a number of viable options, but we need to narrow it down to one and negotiate a good price! Keep your eyes peeled for items to consign, and we’ll keep you posted on the location hunt!
Tagged: downtown, fixtures, location
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- June 16, 2009 – 10:40 pm
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- By Austin Storm
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After what seems like years of discussion and planning we’re ready almost ready to launch! My wife Laura and I (nearly pictured at right in Seattle on our honeymoon) are starting a consignment store in Moscow, ID. We love Moscow, starting new things, and the “hand-made” life ((Not so much about self-sufficiency as it is about communal interdependence. )).
The Storm Cellar will provide a consignment marketplace for used clothes, furniture, and household goods, as well as new handmade goods.
How does it work? Bring in your stuff, and if it fits we’ll take it on consignment. When it sells you get a check for 50% of the purchase price!
We hope the store will be three things:
Thrifty – low-cost, good value.
Green – for recycling unwanted items.
Local – support local artists and craftspeoples.
If you want to help, thanks! We can’t do it without your support. Hold on to your best unwanted clothes, bust out your best crafting skills, and follow us through this blog, Twitter, or Facebook!
- Published:
- June 9, 2009 – 10:49 am
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- By Austin Storm
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