Consignment and resale shops are full of surprises… after all, “every day is like Christmas” when you don’t know what will come in next.
The really FUN surprises occur when unexpected customers show up.
Like this story from Kate Buck.
Kate Buck, current proprietor of HollyGoLightly and, soon, Ella Blu, and past partner in another shop, shared this celebrity sighting:
It was about 4:40 pm. and a couple walked into my store. I don’t know who he was, but she was unmistakable. She walked into the back and proceeded to get an arm load of clothes together. I showed her the dressing room and she was very polite. Then she came up to the counter and was wearing the rabbit jacket that was marked down to $20. I cut the tag for her, and said “I have to ask which one are you”? or something equally dumb. She smiled and said “Mary Kate”.
So next time you see a picture of Mary Kate Olsen, look close and see if she is wearing a rabbit jacket, if so, it may be the very last sale I made on New Year’s Eve 2007.
Of course ALL our resale peers were on the lookout for a paparazzo photo of the star in her $20 bargain, and April was the first to come up with it!
We learned Kate’s secondhand rabbit jacket had traveled from a California resale store to New York City in the luggage of a star. (Wonder if she had a maid unpack her $20 deal? Probably.)
This news photo was captioned Mary-Kate Olsen leaves a restaurant in NYC’s West Village. The millionairess pairs her bright green, Asian-inspired top with a fur jacket … and a scowl.
Not a MENTION of the fact that she bought it from Kate Buck’s secondhand shop!
Do you have a memorable purchase made at your shop… item, customer, reason for purchasing? Tell, tell!
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
My friend Elaine recently purchased Encore Consignment in Bedford, NH.
Shortly after she took over last month, a very lovely lady from the Carolinas
came in with her husband, stating that she had brought all the wrong clothes
for a wedding rehearsal dinner (the weather up here is definitely different,
and changes quickly!) that night. She found a whole outfit, including
shoes and purse, that excited and pleased both her and her husband, and
left the shop screaming our praises. She promised to write some positive
words about our beautiful little shop in the near future, after returning to
her home state…and Elaine was over the moon that her shop could impact
someone in such a positive way right on the spot! Experiences like that make
working in a consignment shop so much fun!!!
Linda Buck
Encore employee
Bedford, NH
bddy91@comcast.net