Maribeth’s opened a warehouse in the next-door building during July and August, and according to store owner Maribeth Watkins, the sale was a success for the store and for customers.
“It was a win-win. We had a lot of fun doing it, and customers loved it,” she said.
Watkins said she opened the warehouse partly for her sta ’s convenience. She said she is usually on buying trips during the time of year when the store has its sidewalk sales, and her sta has to take on extra work. Watkins and her sta brainstormed about an indoor sidewalk sale, and one of her employees suggested renting the space next door, which Watkins said has been empty for the past year and a half.
e warehouse contained the same kind of merchandise sold at the main store but at discount prices.
“It was kind of like cleaning out closets at home; moving out merchandise, getting ready for new things,” Carol Gier, a clerk at Maribeth’s, said.
Most merchandise was marked 50 percent o , and discounts were deepened as the warehouse approached the end of its run, Gier said.
Watkins said she could only keep the warehouse for two months because of sta change-over at the end of the summer.
“We really had to close it down in August because we have a lot of summer help… and when they go back to school we lose that help, so we did not have the manpower to keep it open,” she said.
Watkins said she plans to open the warehouse annually from now on, most likely at the store’s on-site warehouse location, which is in Hillsdale on the way to Baw Beese Lake. She said she would probably advertise more widely but open the warehouse for a shorter period of time – a week instead of two months – because the on-site location would be harder to manage.
Junior Madeline Richards, who worked at Maribeth’s warehouse over the summer, said the warehouse might attract more business from students if it were open during the school year.
“Because it was in the summer, there wasn’t as much student attraction. I definitely know that if she had it open now, they would be so excited to come in,” Richards said.
Watkins said she is not sure how much more business the warehouse would get if she opened it when students are in town. She is hoping to open the second oor of the shop as a sale area – which it used to be years ago – and she said that might prove a good measure of how much students increase business for the store.
Regardless, Watkins, Gier, and Richards all agreed that the warehouse sale was a success.
“I was shocked at how much we sold. We have very little le in that store,” Watkins said.
“It proved to be very helpful for us to sort of clear the store out so we can move new inventory in and keep it clean- er,” Richards said. “All of the things sold in the warehouse are still good and very cute and very fun. It was good to get them out so they could be appreciated again.”
Most of all, Watkins emphasized the joy it gave her and the community.
“People enjoyed the sale, they enjoyed the atmosphere; it was just fun. Everyone knew there was some bargain, some treasure over there,” she said. “Nine out ten times, when people would walk in, they would say, ‘Oh, this is so fun! What a great idea!’”
