Monday, October 1, 2007

Sounds like it, but this is NOT an ad!

Everyone at the store has been working hard trying to organize nearly 35,000 baby-related items. Yes, 35,000. Nearly 300 consignors have brought in 35,000 items to sell. Can you believe it?! The sale starts this Thursday and we have been scrambling trying to get everything in order, inspecting and rejecting soiled and broken items. It is down to the wire these next few days and will be mostly spent doing clean-up-- picking up the strings from the tags on the floor, straightening the toys and clothing, cleaning up the counters and computer areas and hollering after the kids to not open anything!
The picture above shows only a small portion of the clothing we got. We had so many clothes that Boss Lady ordered extension bars for the racks and the clothing barely has wiggle room. There are separate round racks for Halloween costumes, Christmas outfits, snowsuits and formal wear. The picture below shows a wall covered with toys, toys and more toys! Infant toys, toddler toys, big girl and boy toys. We take smaller toys and pop them into plastic baggies and hang them on the wall for easier shopping. No digging through bins here! Under the tables are all sorts of scooters and floor toys, blocks and learn-to-stand toys. Elsewhere, not pictured, are rows of toy ride-on cars, bikes, rocking horses and chalkboards.
This picture shows a wall of movies and books! The first 5 shelves on the left are all movies and the other shelves are all books. This doesn't include the 5 tables full of board games, puzzles, and leapfrog type learning toys. We put all the small tables and chairs in this area and the plan is to set them up to look like a little reading area with the sets being for sale of course. In another area is a big section of new less-than-perfect bedroom furniture. Beautiful bunk beds, dressers and desk sets in natural wood or painted colors. I'd buy some but we already have furniture for the girls, darn it!
I will be working everyday this week and my mom has come up to babysit the girls for me. Hubby is pounding the pavement, looking for work and I don't like to bring the girls to the store when it is open for business. Too many people coming and going and too easy to lose track of the girls when you get busy checking people out. Thursday night, we open to volunteers who have helped set up the store and I swear, these volunteers run in as soon as the doors open, slapping tape with "SOLD" written on it, onto everything in sight. These volunteers spend $200 to $700 dollars each. I kid you not. We get lots of large families shopping for a whole year in one night, or other smaller families that buy a whole lot for a fraction of the cost. Where else can you buy a $300 crib, slightly used, for $75? Or cute outfits from brand-name stores (gymboree, the children's place to name a few) for an average of $6 apiece?

It is going to be a crazy week for me but I will get a nice week-long break next week. I'll be able to catch up on the stuff that has been ignored around the house and maybe get to make and can that grape jelly. I'm anxious to taste the finished product! After my break, there will be 4 more days of work and then it's all over until the next Spring sale where it starts all over again!

4 comments:

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Good luck this week, Jenny. I have an award for you on my blog. Stop by when you can.

darth sardonic said...

i left you an award at my blog. swing by to pick it up lol.

lady macleod said...

I SO thought of you earlier this week! I told this story to Geoff and Sally as well. I was over on Digital Alley in the Medina and I thought I would just wander through the passage behind the stall where I normally purchase my DVDs (just got Rome season 2). As I turned a corner there was a locked glass case with EVERYTHING you can imagine lining the shelves! A clarinet that had to be from Bennie Goodman's era, four or five Swiss Army knives (one with daisies), some horrid little tin or iron knick knacks, and sitting there on the second shelf in all his serene glory was Wu Fo! (a Chinese incarnation of the Buddha - the fat happy chap with the beads). "Oh I want that," said I to the the three youngsters lounging on the stools. A search did not reveal the man with the key, but they said to return later this week (it's Morocco). As I continued on it was shop after shop filled with half formed chess sets, old lighting fixtures, tons of old black top record albums,rugs, cushions, antlers, and on and on. I kept saying your name over and over, "Jenny would love this!"

DJ Kirkby said...

Wow! You all did such an amazing job sorting and displaying the stuff and I so badly want to come and shop!