Now picture yourself, looking for the perfect pair of boots for this New England weather. Through technology you've found the perfect pair online for only a mere $432...
Just when you have given up on mall prices, and designer labels, you walk into Plum Consignment. Sitting on the back shelf, the PERFECT PAIR of boots. You can only imagine the price, almost turning yourself around to avoid the disappointment, but you can't. You must look, just to know, maybe even just try it on for fun. You pick up the boot shaking in excitement, preparing yourself for guilt of even looking at them.
This is the beauty of the thrift shop.
“Its what I want to do, I have fun coming to work, I have fun with my customers, its nice to know that I am providing a service that people like,” says Pam Hulbert, owner and creator of Plum Consignment in downtown Beverly.
When I stepped into Plum, nothing about it screams thrift shop. It has an upscale boutique feel, with a New England style décor, and dim lighting which instantly gives you a comforting feeling. Plum gives a variety of clothes a sense of belonging, and attracts a wide range of cliental due to the diverse chose in options. The brands range from designer labels, to Forever 21. “There is something here for everyone, that’s why our demographic is so ranged,” says Pam. Although the boutique look makes you believe the clothes would be pricey, Pam says that is exactly what she didn’t want for her customers. “You go to the mall and you can easily spend 100 dollars for like two outfits. So yeah, its, I like, we have a lot of Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, it maybe only been worn a couple times,” says Pam.
When I met up with Pam she looked like she just stepped out of a JCrew catalog. She had a simple white-stripped tee, dark wash jeans, and a bold, orange, statement necklace. An ad agency standard, turned into a thrift shop junkie, Pam greeted me with a warm smile and sat down with me for an interview.
How did you come up with the name Plum?
I wish I had a really good story behind it, but I was just checking my e-mail one day brainstorming ideas in the back of my head and that work just kinda popped up. My husband starting playing around with a logo and that, that’s pretty much it. That’s my story, there’s no subliminal meaning behind it, but it works with the logo.
So is your husband in graphic design?
He is, he is an art director. He works for an ad agency in Boston.
Where you a communications major?
I was, I was visual communications graphic design. And um, so I have a BFA in fine arts.
Did you know that you wanted to own a thrift store, or a small business, how did Plum come about?
Um, I always wanted, in the back of my head I always wanted to, but when you graduate college you are always told you need to get the best job, do the typical thing for a few years. So I did that, I hated it, it wasn’t for me.
So you started out somewhere else?
I was, I worked at um, the Peabody Essex Museum I did some of their graphic design, was a great place to work. Ummm but it wasn’t really what I wanted to be doing. So I was more recently working in an interior design firm in Boston and again you know, awesome job to have, but it just wasn’t my true passion. This was always in the back of my mind. I had left that interior design job in um January of 2012, no 2011 then we opened up the shop a few months later.
Did you want it to be in Beverly or did you have other plans for it?
Um, I had a feeling it was going to be in Beverly but I kind of looked at, but I was still looking at spots all over the state just to see what was available for retail space. And it um, everything just kept bringing me back to this location. I live right around the corner, and it just there was already other consignment shops here, but I knew that mine was not going to be competing with them. I knew it would be a completely different look and feel and I wouldn’t be bad competition for them. Its not like two Dunkin Donuts on the same block, you know it’s complete different. We all have different inventory.
You said you had a different look and feel then the other shops in Beverly, what kind of look and feel were you going for?
I really wanted to create a boutique feel, but still have the thrift store pricing. I love consignment shopping, but if I walk into a place where it smells or its disorganized or you can’t find anything, I’m not going to shop there. So I just wanted everything to be organized, like consignment shopping doesn’t have to be quote, unquote, junkie. You can still find really good second hand clothes that don’t have to look like they’ve been use. So that was kinda my thing behind it like, every store that I went into, it was gross and you just didn’t want to try anything on, that kind of thing. So I just wanted to step it up a notch.
Do you think that your back ground in interior design and graphic design helped you design the space?
It just has such a warm feeling, it has an anthropologie kind of feel, I love the décor in there.
Defiantly, sometime I just go into anthropologie and not even want to buy anything I just look at how they have done the displays, and look at the wall textures they use and stuff, I love, I love their design.
That must be fun, like picking out what textures and different color schemes?
Defiantly I love that stuff.
Have you always been into fashion? Is that why you wanted to go into thrift stores?
Um, I have, yeah I know when I was little I always used to say I wanna be a fashion designer. But my drawing skills are not where they needed to be in order to get me into that. So this is the next best thing.
What got you into thrift stores, did you go there in college or did you grow up with it?
Um, the first time I had ever really been in a thrift store was when I did, in high school we had to do community service hours so I did all mine at the one in Guilford. I don’t know if you know it, but Hole in the Wall. I did it there, I liked it, I didn’t mind going to do it. So I started shopping there, and at other stores. I wasn’t really avid about shopping under after college. And then I really started to do the thrift shopping.
I know you said you liked the pricing of the thrift shops, is that why you were mostly into thrift shopping to begin with?
Yes defiantly. You go to the mall and you can easily spend 100 dollars for like two outfits. So yeah, its, I like, we have a lot of Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, it maybe only been worn a couple times. You can get shirts here for 12 bucks, 14 bucks.
Where do you get your clothes from?
People bring them to me. So we do consignment appointments or we do um the second and fourth Wednesday of every month we do walk in Wednesday. So if people have 5 or fewer items they can bring that in on those Wednesdays.
I really should do that; I have like a whole trunk of clothes.
Hahaha. Yeah like yesterday was one of the walk in Wednesdays and its just crazy in here on those days. We get so much stuff on those days.
Is that exciting, going through everything?
It is. Its like Christmas everyday. Yeah, you know, we don’t except everything just cause people might have good quality product, but we know what our demographic is. And we know the types of people that shop here, so were you know we don’t take everything. Even though it might be a good brand or good quality and that stuff, but it just has to fit who we know shops here.
What do you look for in clothes then?
Things defiantly have to be in good condition, we look for things over for stains, wholes, brand names don’t really matter to us, it could be from Forever 21 or it could be from Gucci, or Prada you know, just as long as its in good condition and still in style. We don’t specify that it has to be from the last two years but you know we don’t want dated stuff. Nobody wants to wear it, you know so yeah we, its hard to kind of say in general. Its more on a per basis item, we will go through everybody’s stuff and kind of match what we have here.
Who is your main demographic?
Um, we get high school girls up to probably early 50’s it kind of a wide, wide age group, but um yeah I mean we truly get all aspects of that.
Do you help them pick out an outfit, or do they come in for specific things?
Yeah I feel like consignment shopping is a little bit different then if you were to go to Nordstrom’s or something, people are really just looking for something fun. Occasionally people will come in and say you know do you have a black cardigan or cause there is so much variety it harder to shop for specific things I would say. So I think people come in, they don’t want to spend a lot of money but they want something new. Something that they might not go to mall and spend 50 dollars on but if they can get it here you know, why not? We always help people match together things just cause there is so much variety its kind of hard to find stuff that matches.
I was looking on your website, you do a lot of promotional events, what kind of events do you look for, do people come to you or do you contact them?
Promotion wise, as far as the event goes. Wicked Art Bar approached me, they asked if I wanted to collaborate on an event cause they just opened and wanted more people to get familiar with their space. So I thought that, we had done an accessory swap before up here, and I thought that would be an awesome thing to do over in their space. The other events we have done here, we did like a jean swap, we are defiantly looking to collaborate with people, if it fits within our realm of stuff. Any events we do we try to keep it fashion, jewelry or makeup related. Just trying to keep it cohesive.
What is your favorite part about owning a thrift shop?
It just what I want to do I have fun coming to work, I have fun with my customers. Its nice to know that I am providing a service that people like. I appreciate what we are doing, we kind of cleaned up this section of the street, you know the building was kind of run down. I love the fact that people will ask me their opinion and know that I’m going to be honest to sell them on something, like if a shirt doesn’t look good on a customer I’m going to tell them nicely that it doesn’t. I don’t want them to get home and regret making that sale, because then they are never going to want to come back here. So we are very honest with our customers, and its nice to be able to do that. It makes me happy to feel that people can trust us when they ask that.
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