Saving The Planet - One Outfit At A Time
Recycling is really nothing new. We have been doing it for years, and just didn’t know it. I can remember way back in the 50’s when we went to garage sales, which was a concept fairly new at the time. Some enterprising women decided to clean out their closets and basements, and thought that instead of throwing it away, why not have a garage sale and make a few bucks? It worked, and today we see huge garage sales and consignment shops everywhere.
Which leads me to this post. I read a lot of news, and try to at least keep up with things on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. I see further proof on an almost daily basis on people who are not only feeling the pinch of the current economic downturn, but are finally beginning to realize that a lot of clothing - especially of the feminine variety - is not only ridiculously priced but are oft-times worn only a few times until the fall out of favor with the trendy set. They are then relegated to the back of the closet - or better still, taken to a local consignment shop for redistribution.
I met my wife 12 years ago when she was a rehab counselor and I was in a world of hurt. She was always nicely dressed in fashionable clothing, and you seldom saw her wearing the same thing twice. I marveled at that when I found she did the bulk of her shopping at an upper end consignment shop in Lansing. She wore no K-Mart or Wal-Mart brands, either - they were all designer labels. Here was this woman, able to shop wherever she pleased, buying clothing in a consignment shop and forever getting compliments on how she looked. It was a joked-filled secret between us because we knew where her clothing came from.
Rosie and I moved on, and we set up a successful clothing business on eBay. Soon, one room of our home was stacked to the ceiling with clothing she had gathered from everywhere in the state. We did very well on eBay, and even though the huge pile of clothing never seemed to go down in the spare bedroom, we made a decent amount of cash that was a blessing to us. Rosie is very good at picking the latest trends and has the savvy of a fashionista, so there was little left over that did not sell.
In 2006, after job changes and my early retirement, we purchased a building in Charlotte, MI. We carried over our expertise with gently used clothing into a business that now supports us very well. Bella Grande is a small shop - only 1,300 square feet, but it is a roaring success in this community, because her shop is the only one in the area that deals exclusively with plus size clothing, sizes 12 and up. The building is 115 years old with a rich history, and above the store we have a large apartment that is both quaint and eclectic. We drive on the average of about 200 miles per month. Across the street are a grocery store, a bank, and two saloons where I now and then refresh myself on a hot August afternoon. Our needs are simple, and a green lifestyle suits us. We shop for vegetables at a local farmer’s market within walking distance, and have made a lot of attempts at doing the green thing. Our most successful endeavor, however, is the small shop that saves the planet - one outfit at a time.
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One Response to “Saving The Planet - One Outfit At A Time”
January 26th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
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