Date: Fri 10-Nov-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-11

Quick Words:

Bulloch-Hall-Consign-Guide

Full Text:

Consignment Shopping At Your Fingertips

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

While most people first think of clothing when they hear the word "consign,"

consignment shopping actually offers much more. Shoppers can unload or uncover

not just a gorgeous Chanel suit, but also an original piece of art, CDs and

cassettes, furniture or home decorating accessories, riding equipment, medical

equipment, musical instruments... the possibilities are nearly endless.

A fanatic about consignment shopping when she lived in the Bay Area of San

Francisco, Kathleen Bulloch was stunned at the dearth of consignment shops in

Connecticut when she and her family moved to Monroe two years ago. Whenever

she went into different areas in the Bay Area, she would pull her beloved copy

of a guide to area consignment shops out of her car's glove compartment and go

shopping.

But after moving to Connecticut and discovering that her parents really up on

consignment shopping, Kathleen looked in the Yellow Pages, but all she was

able to find were the ones in her immediate vicinity. To make matters worse,

not all consignment shop owners advertise in the Yellow Pages.

At this point, there wasn't a comprehensive guide to help shoppers find

established stores.

Kathleen's husband suggested that she create a guide of her own for

Connecticut, a guide that would help other shoppers to find the shops, what

each offers, consignment schedules, etc. Kathleen comes from a publishing

background, so the idea, she says, "wasn't that far off base."

She did four months of research in July 1993 and decided it would indeed be

worth her while. Meanwhile, Kathleen's second business began getting busy, so

the consignment guide idea had to be put on the back burner for a while -

nearly a year, in fact.

In the interim, Kathleen met Heidi through activities their children both

participated in. One day Kathleen was telling Heidi about this pet project of

hers, and asked if Heidi was interested in going in on it with her. Heidi was

a little hesitant at first, having never shopped in a consignment store

before. She also volunteers her time to a number of groups, as well as plays a

lot of tennis, so she wasn't sure she would have the time.

However, Heidi took about a week to go through the stack of notes Kathleen had

already put together, went back to her newfound friend, and said, "Looks good

to me."

So the two went to work, driving across the state in search of every

consignment shop they could find and building not just a comprehensive

database but also a closer friendship.

"Kathleen and I saw so much, we met a lot of nice people," Heidi said.

"Connecticut is such a beautiful state. It really has so much to offer."

"And we really are proficient at getting around the state now," Kathleen

added. "We can drive, really anywhere, without even looking at a map. I

probably never would have been to places like Branford, Guilford, Madison...

And we had some interesting experiences." The two found themselves in the

middle of the tornado that touched down in Watertown last year.

For eight months, Heidi and Kathleen worked on the book religiously. They

would usually go out one day, then write one day.

"We found that if we went out more than two days in a row," Kathleen said,

"stores would begin to blur, even though we took a lot of notes. If we did

more than eight or ten stores at one time we couldn't keep them all straight,

so that's the way we worked it."

Heidi and Kathleen created their treasure map of a book because, they say in

their introduction, "Getting started in consignment shopping can be a little

like rummaging through Aunt Mabel's cluttered attic. You really want to

explore, but you just don't know where to begin and you hesitate simply

because your time is limited.

Enter Consign Connecticut , with its 300 listings to help guide

consignmenteers through the hundreds of consignments stores located throughout

the state.

Consign Connecticut is the only authoritive guide of this type in the state.

It shows readers how to save money and how to make money by buying and selling

through consignment stores, a vastly untapped resource to many.

"We live in a disposable society and people are forever discarding usable

goods for a whole host of reasons," says Kathleen. "Why not profit from those

castoffs? People can both save and earn hundreds of dollars by buying and

selling through consignment stores. The financial rewards can pay for your

next vacation, or even help finance your child's college education."

In addition to publishing a book that makes consignment stores more accessible

to the public and help people save money, Kathleen and Heidi also wanted to

let people know that consignment shopping is much different from "thrift"

stores.

"We knew that it would open people's eyes when they hear that this state has

so much to offer, from consignment stores that specialize in home electronics,

CDs and stereos, to consignment stores that specialize in special needs such

as wheel chairs and chairlifts, and furniture," Kathleen said. "I mean, it's

unbelievable what you can find in this state! You can furnish a home from top

to bottom."

Heidi and Kathleen are also hoping to alleviate the misconceptions so many

have when it comes to the ideas behind consignment shopping, particularly for

clothes.

"People have this idea that you walk into a consignment store and you'll come

out looking like a bag lady," Heidi said. "We're trying to change that."

The two authors are also hoping to educate readers on how to consign, what

stores are generally looking for, and the benefits of turning in gently-used

merchandise for some cold, hard cash.

There are close to 300 consignment stores in Connecticut, 95 of which are in

Fairfield County alone and one - The Fashion Exchange in Newtown - which

Kathleen calls "one of the nicest stores in the state."

"We're really lucky to have that so close by," Kathleen said of Janet

Falkenthal's store, ten years in business and continuing to build in

popularity.

Consign Connecticut is an easy-to-read guide that covers everything possible

on the art of consigning and consignment shopping. The eight major sections of

the book are broken down by the eight counties in Connecticut, each with a map

of the county, a county chart index, and then the

In the write-ups in the book, readers will find a brief description on the

ambience of the store, the hours, phone number and types of payment accepted,

a general overview of what you can expect to find in the store at any given

time, and step-by-step directions on how to find the store.

The book is then indexed in four different manners: by product category (22

categories, cross-referenced to each of the stores); an alphabetical index to

the stores; al alphabetical index by county; and an alphabetical index by

town.

While Kathleen and Heidi offer personal opinions of the stores, they were not

out to sink anyone's business. Certain stores do things better than others, so

the two were out to simply offer readers a black-and-white look at everything.

"There were certain things we were looking for - if the store was organized,

clean, well-lit, pricing structures...," Kathleen said. "We tried to let you

know if the store had rules about mark-downs, these kind of things."

"Each store has something to offer," Kathleen says, "and it may not be readily

visible. But it's definitely there."

Consign Connecticut retails for $15.95 and is available in local book stores,

as well as consignments shops, direct mail and libraries throughout the state.

A subscription-based newsletter, "Consign Connecticut" Alert , will also be

available to provide new store and merchandise updates as well as inventory

needs. Because of the changing landscape of consignment shops - new stores

opening, others closing, or changing hours, etc - Consign Connecticut will be

annually updated.

So, shoppers, as the holiday season approaches, or even throughout the rest of

the year when money can be just as tight, finding yourself in possession of a

copy of Consign Connecticut just may be the difference between saving some

money on a gently-used item or going without it at all.

Kathleen Bulloch and Heidi Hall will be at The Book Review in Newtown on

Thursday, November 16, for a book signing party, from 11:30 am to 1 pm. They

will have plenty of copies of Consign Connecticut on hand, and look forward to

meeting readers. The Book Review is in Sand Hill Plaza, on Main Street

South/Route 25. For additional information, contact Ashlor Publishing at

459-0127.