Northshore Magazine

January/February 2012

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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ne Shopping take things she knows she shouldn't, and she has made a variety of concessions to them that make it harder for her to run her business. "I find it really hard to say no," Gordon says. "Sometimes, I Chemical Peels, Face and Body Custom Facial Treatments Acne Facials Collagen and Oxygen Facials Body Treatments We Love Skin Karen Damon, Licensed Esthetician / Laser Technician 27 Green Street, Newburyport, MA , Suite 104 978-580-5818 Call for a no-cost consultation got trademarks? Free Consultations Are yours protected? They should be. We can help you protect them. We specialize in assisting individuals, companies and other attorneys with their patent, trademark, copyright and business law needs. TM take things I know are not going to sell because in some really idealistic way, I am giving hope to someone that they may make some money for their family." Re-find's Matthews has no such problems with saying no—perhaps because her own money is on the line with every purchase. She buys everything that goes in the store, rather than consigning. She feels that it puts the customer in con- trol. Sellers can get either 30 percent of the item's planned ticket price in cash or 50 percent in trade or store credit. For example, she may ticket a Michael Kors sweater at $42, so the seller will get $12.60 in cash or $21 in trade. "If they don't like that price, they can just not sell it to me," she says. Tracking Takes Time Fincke and Gordon both run traditional consignment shops. In each case, the store takes 60 percent of the item's sale price. While the initial cash outlay is much lower, Gordon says she now understands why people buy out instead of consigning. "[Monitoring] inventory and keeping track of people's stuff takes a lot of time," Gordon laments, especially since, in an effort to make things easier for her approximately 400 consigners, she allows people to just drop off bags of clothes for her to go through later. It's a practice she may soon have to abandon, as bags and boxes are piling up behind the coun- ter, under display shelves, and in her minimal storage area. As for how much time she spends stocking the racks, Gordon doesn't even want to venture a guess. Fincke, on the other hand, is very much aware of how much of her time is spent on acquisition; with about 1,200 consignors who have accounts, she says she spends about 75 percent of her time on getting inventory into her store, from Dauphin Law Offices Brian Dauphin Patent Attorney 10 Main Street, Suite L9 Andover, MA 01810 Phone 978-749-9800 Fax 978-336-6010 brian@dauphinlaw.com www. dauphinlaw.com Consignments; a rack of ivory clothing at the shop. Bobbie Gordon at Loop The White Stuff 98 nshoremag.com January/February 2012 nshoremag.com January/February 2012

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