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I’ve Had It Up to Here
By Charlene Martel, Barkhamsted
I am a small business owner who has had it up to here with the general public.
Whatever happened to the small hometown friendliness of shoppers? I understand that the economy is not so great and that people are trying to stretch every penny that they might be lucky enough to have in their wallets. But enough is enough.
I opened Char's Consignment three years ago because I knew personally what it meant to stretch every dollar. I also frequented consignment shops to try to keep some change in my purse. I never thought of asking a business owner to accept less than the ticket price for an item. If it was on sale, I thought, "This must be my lucky day."
I have come to the conclusion that people have a hard time distinguishing the difference between an outdoor yard sale (no overhead) and a store (lots of overhead). I started the store with low, low prices right from our grand opening in order to help out the people who need it. It doesn't matter what the price is—people still ask for a better deal. People do not hesitate to ask me to mark down items. I have seen shoppers pull buttons off clothes to get the item cheaper, and even stoop to tag-switching just to save one extra dollar. Just the other day, a woman came into the store and asked me to mark down the price of a $6 girl's bike with training wheels. Where can you get a bike for less than six dollars? Enough is enough, people.
I am very disappointed these days. I tried to follow the rule that was infused in me as a young adult—that the customer is always right. Bull! I have tried to please everyone—the shopper and the consignee—but I cannot succeed. If I mark an item down to please the consumer, the consignee is not happy. If I mark the price too high, then the shopper isn't happy. There is no pleasant way to satisfy everyone. I have realized that the only person I can please is myself.
Let's not even mention the meaning of a signed contract. I could go on for days talking about the excuses I have heard from consignees as to why they couldn't follow the contract. If I had written down every excuse, I could have filled an entire file cabinet with papers.
And then there are the consignees who don't even look at their articles before they bring them to the store. Each article is supposed to be in ready-for-sale condition, freshly laundered or cleaned. I have found purses with drug paraphernalia inside, and pockets with condoms, candy, dirty Kleenex, marijuana, and even money. Some articles arrive in a very fragrant, scented condition. Some smell like they were hanging around in a damp, mildewy basement for years, others smell like they fell into a perfume vat, while yet others smell like they got lost in a huge box of mothballs. Some are so wrinkled that I am not quite sure what the item is supposed to be, while some even look like the owner’s cat had been wearing the items. Come on!
I am sure that there are many other shop owners out there who have had similar experiences dealing with the public. I have had (some) nice experiences as a shop owner. There are a few people who I actually enjoy seeing because of their clean and decent conversation while browsing or consigning—like Sandy from Barkhamsted, Edna from Torrington, Sharon from Winsted, Gloria from Norfolk, Amy from New Hartford, and especially Gigi's Aunt Patti from Williams Avenue. These are the people who make it worth an effort to go to work in the morning. But they are too far and few in between.
As you should be able to tell, I have lost my desire to work with the public. Three years of trying to cater to and please every person who walks through the door has been very stressful for me, and has changed my point of view about owning a retail business. The only people I want to make happy now are my family and me. Which would you choose—going to work every day to be beat up by the public, or staying home?
I know my opinion would never have reached this extreme state if I were selling brand new articles or perhaps working in the food industry. Consignment shops are not flea markets and giant tag sales—there are expenses and overhead to pay. I know people who do not wish to ever have a tag sale again because the people constantly try to barter on the prices and have even stolen items—not to mention that despite the ads they run in the papers stating "no early birds," buyers always flock to sales early anyway. They really don't care what anyone else feels. What a total lack of common courtesy! These are the kinds of people I have dealt with for the past 792 days.
I have put the business, Char's Consignment, and the building on the market for sale. If anyone is interested in working with the public, feel free to call the Cohen Agency in Torrington for information on the sale or lease of the building. A special thanks to Sandy, Edna, Sharon, Gloria, Aunt Patti, and all the others who make me smile when they come to the store.
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