My boss at the Next to New Shop officially retired at the end of June when I took over as manager. I wish her the best in this new chapter of her life after more than 20 years of keeping the shop running smoothly. My work during the day hasn’t changed much. The end of the day is when I face up to being responsible for the whole show.
Tallying the day receipts, keeping the books, and all the small maintenance jobs – not just changing light bulbs or finding a pen that writes, but knowing I’m the one who needs to buy them – are just some of the things I’ll get used to doing.
Our routine at the store isn’t difficult, but one of the tedious problems right now is what to do with all our hangers. I’m running a summer clearance sale. With reduced prices, the volume in number of items sold is high. That means more empty hangers to store. As I clear the shop, I’m running out of space for the hangers and looking for containers to store them in.
At the end of the day, my cartons of hangers are full to overflowing. If you don’t deal with clothes hangers in bulk, you may not have thought about it, but hangers can be difficult. I’ll compare them to a pack of dogs. One hanger by itself goes were you direct it, stays put and serves you well, but group a pile of hangers together and they become unruly, tangle in a mess, and sometimes even bite when you try to break them apart.
I’m up to my elbows in hangers, which is a good thing. That shows that I’m clearing out the inventory we’ve accumulated during spring and summer and making room for fall and winter consignments. Then, with the cyclical nature life takes, it starts all over again.
My vast supply of hangers will come back out of their bags, bins, and boxes. I’ll choose the style and sometimes even color of hanger that best suits a garment: a particular top becomes more appealing on a coordinating or contrasting hanger; a two- or three-piece outfit needs a two- or three-piece hanger combination with clips; sponge padded hangers are best for sweaters. The possibilities go on.
So does my supply of hangers. I have a variety of types and sizes. Again, like different dog breeds, they make the most of their unique features and often behave better (stay untangled) if they’re kept separated into categories.
The Next to New Shop will be accepting clean, current, ready to sell clothing and apparel for fall and winter from mid-August through early December. We take men’s, women’s, and junior’s clothes and accessories: belts, shoes, purses, hats, ties, gloves, jewelry and even an occasional household item. (I sold a stand mixer this summer. It was in in beautiful condition complete with booklets and all accessories. My consigner said his mother had only used it a couple times.)
If you’re in Columbiana, visit the Next to New Shop at the rear entrance of the Columbiana Women’s Club, 121 N. Main, Columbiana.
No need to bring your own hangers.
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