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You don’t have to be 50plus to love shopping in consignment and thrift shops, but you tend to have more time to do so. Also, you may have more reasons to do so, like new hobbies, stretching retirement funds, and people to buy for, like grandchildren.
If You Like Collectibles and Consignment Shops, You’ll Love Classic Consignments, a shop on Rt. 20 in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
I love shopping at thrift and consignment shops, and Classic Consignments is my favorite. It ticks all the boxes.
Note: It is not a clothing store, but might have vintage and quality fashion accessories.
If You Like Collectibles and Consignment Shops, you’ll love the selection at Classic Consignments
The sandwich board sign reads: “home furnishings, jewelry, etc.” Well, the “etc.” is a bland word for what you may find at Classic Consignments. Unlike some shops, that limit themselves to recent decades, or to mostly furniture, or to antiques and collectibles, or a niche, items hundreds of years old may be mixed in with items across the years to today. The items range from practical to whimsical, from paper to chrome, and cover a broad range of interests and collecting niches. And it’s just plain fun hunting for collectibles and antiques there.
You may find items about British Royalty:
to immigrants:
What kind of collectibles might you find at Classic Consignments?
One day when I walked in, I was greeted by several boxed dolls circa the 1950’s. One of the boxes had a note that said something like “to Gramma, love from xxxx.” Evidently it was time for the collection to be disbursed and enjoyed by new owners.
It often seems that way, as you might see a large grouping of items, like miniatures, such as Sebastian figurines, or Longaberger baskets, Flow Blue or Dedham pottery, or its re-iteration of style from The Potting Shed.
Some shelves and cabinets are designated areas for things like linens, quality handbags, pottery, and vintage kitchenware and glassware.
The linen corner.
Long view of kitchenware, vintage cans and bottles, and utensils etc.
Handbags and totebags.
Close up of jugs on kitchenware shelf.
Here’s some Hall’s and Fiesta-style ware:
If you like British Royalty memorabilia, they often have something or other in china, tin, or paper.
They occasionally have comic books and usually have ephemera, from postcards to early advertising.
The walls and floor space offer an ever-changing cornucopia of visual and collecting delights.
What I also like about Classic Consignments is their pricing and mark down policy.
The staff at Classic Consignments work with their consignors to price their items fairly, given local and online markets. They urge their consignors to point out anything that will indicate what their expectations are and what characteristics might influence the price. They also have a computerized ticketing program showing automatic markdowns at dated intervals. If you are a buyer, this may influence your buying decisions. I know I am more likely to buy something if it’s marked down. Sometimes I pass on an item at full price, because I don’t NEED it, but figure if it’s still there the next time I visit, I can (sort of) justify buying it.
Here’s a ticket example on a Boyd’s Teddy Bear:
The original price is on the bottom and the markdowns with dates appear above the barcode.
What I also love about Classic Consignments is the staff and ambience.
The staff members are always pleasant and helpful. The employees are also very patient and tactful with customers and consignors. They wrestle with all kinds of calls, sometimes those that are all about the would-be customer’s needs and wants and last minute, that kindly, but firmly have to be told, “No, we can’t take…or you need an appointment…or just sorry, but no.”
They really should keep a journal of some of their stories. I know when I had my shop, I should have written down some of them.
One time when I was shopping, a woman who I gathered had been living in Japan for quite some time, and was now returning state-side, was particularly showing off her knowledge of Asian china to a friend. She insisted to the staff that some of the china should be priced higher, because she knew it was all hand-painted. She also talked down to one of them, as if the shop was a charity shop and the woman behind the counter just a volunteer, not a knowledgeable employee. The atmosphere in the store changed for the better once she and her companion left. I went over to the employee and made a commiserating comment and we both had a chuckle.
If you love jewelry, you will love Classic Consignments
David, who is their jewelry expert, and from what I gather, truly trained and certified in fine gems and jewelry, is particularly friendly and ready to share his expertise and recent consignments. He made a point of showing me a particularly unusual neck ornament, I would call it, that had just come in. It has a wonderful story, too.
According to him, the jewelry was consigned by a woman who was an Olympian in Paris in the 1970’s. Someone there gave her the neckpiece in honor and memory of her being an Olympian. The owner is moving away from the area and was downsizing. David noted that the style was “kind of Twiggy-ish” and that you would have to have a long neck to wear it. He said it is made of chrome, a mirror, and with sterling chain links. It came in the box he is holding. I looked up the name and it is of a chic hair salon in Paris.
David sang the praises of a particularly lustrous string of Mikimoto pearls. David also pointed out this custom-made shade to refurbish a period lamp. They used Czechoslovakian beads and re-purposed some embroidered linens and Chintz fabric.
David and I have discovered a common bond. Not only are we from the same hometown, we share our first childhood experience – I was probably 8 – of visiting a consignment shop. Our mothers both took us to a shop that we recall as a maze of piles of stuff and was only open at night. Hence, it’s name, The Owl Shop. When I cleaned out my Mom’s house a few years ago I found something that I bought there . It still had the faint consignor number and price written in pencil.
What the bargain-hunter in me really loves about Classic Consignments
The bargain-hunter in me really loves, not only the mark-downs, but the “back room.” As unsold items enter their final month of their consignment period, the staff move them to a back area of the shop. I generally save that section to browse in last. There I have picked up some great pictorial or coffee table books that were marked down to $2. I also find items that I hadn’t noticed before, as well as some that are marked down to what I am willing to pay. (Or justify buying.)
Here’s a few photos of the back area from a recent visit. There had been a round table there that they kept marking down. (It seems they sometimes keep furniture past the sell buy date and drastically mark it down.) I don’t know why, but I liked it, but had no use for it. Even at I think $10. I was glad when it wasn’t there anymore.
If you love collectibles, some final reasons to love Classic Consignments
With some exceptions for holiday weekends, Classic Consignments is open seven days a week. Yes, seven days to feed your browsing, collecting, and bargain-hunting soul. It’s a collector’s paradise.
Classic Consignments can be the best free entertainment if you like a fun, eclectic shopping experience with nostalgia and history thrown in.
The inventory is ever-changing as new consignments are going on the floor with regularity. Appointments are booked up months ahead.
The employees are continually moving and removing items, and rearranging so that browsers have a great experience as well as get a sense of how an item might look at home.
Finally, the consignors, customers, and staff are all interesting and entertaining in and of themselves. There is that saying: “You can’t make this stuff up.”
And you can’t. The synergy of the shop comes together all on its own.
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Do you have a favorite consignment shop? Do you love browsing thrift and consignment shops?
Please share below.
Also visit my other blog posts about collectibles and consignment shops:
7 Reasons why I love consignments shops and not just for saving money
The British Royal Family: Memorabilia feeds collectibles mania
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