Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Kankel.
Kathleen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I had been working in women’s consignment for 4-5 years and mustered up the courage to go from working for someone else to opening my very own store in January 2012. I knew the Melrose community was very pro-consignment and thought it would be the perfect fit for maternity and children’s clothing – something missing from the scene for quite a while. I’ve been a second hand/thrift shopper since I was a teenager and was ready to take a leap of faith that it was the right time to bring my spin on resale to the North Shore.
I have always been an advocate for REDUCE, REUSE and REDUCE! and think that too many people think of clothing as disposable! Most adults have clothes in their closets that they’ve had for 5-10 years plus! But that’s not the case for children’s clothes! Every parent knows how quickly children grow and thusly grow OUT OF their clothes! I want to be able to help families make a little money back on their original investments AND offer the community quality second hand clothing so that they don’t have to turn to brand new every time! I’m proud to offer preloved, gently used clothing to help sustain the long life most of our clothing has in it! Why buy NEW when there’s so much out there that still has LIFE!
So I opened in Feb 2012 and I wondered how I would fill my 475 sq. foot store, fingers crossed I’d sell at least a few things a day! Here it is 2017 and I’m to trying to find the space to put it all! We see 20-25 consignors/wk., inventorying 800-1000 new items every week! I’ve found that scheduling appointments works best for us, and gives us dedicated time to review incoming goods. We have over 1000 consignors who eagerly await announcements of when we are booking the next season to grab one of our limited appointments. We’ve gone from taking just about anything in good condition, to being much more selective for the better quality brands and those items in the best condition.
The community has been so supportive and my little store has customers from New Hampshire all the way to the south shore! And with the growth has come more employees! We see many repeat customers and new faces just about every day! I’m in love with the saying from our website “If you haven’t been in lately, you haven’t been in at all!” That’s because our stock is constantly changing!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I have to admit that it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Again, the community has been supportive and once word got out that there was a children’s consignment shop in the area, people began shopping and consigning away!
I’d say the hardest thing has been building a staff that is reliable and hardworking.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a children’s and maternity consignment shop. We accept clothing and clothing accessories for children from newborn to a child’s size 10/12 as well as all sized maternity and nursing apparel. Additionally, we accept infant gear and goods (strollers, high chairs, wipes warmers, baby monitors etc) as well as books and toys.
Our emphasis is CONDITION, CONDITION, CONDITION! Our customers appreciate not having to rummage through racks of junk to find a gem! We only accept the best!
What were you like growing up?
I’ve been thrifting since I was in high school. I happen to like a pair of jeans that have already been broken in! My style has always been a bit different and I tend to like things that aren’t uber trendy at the moment.
I’ve always been a bit “artsy” and like to make things! I knit, crochet, sew, paint, garden etc!
Contact Info:
- Address: 377 Franklin Street,
Melrose, MA 02176 - Website: appleofmyeye.us
- Phone: 781-662-2149
- Email: consignment@appleofmyeye.us
- Instagram: instagram.com/apple_377
- Facebook: facebook.com/apple377
- Yelp: yelp.com/biz/apple-of-my-eye-melrose
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
