Showing posts with label White Elephant Emporium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Elephant Emporium. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Where Have you Been?!?!

Well...It's been months since my last blog post...(That kinda sounded like a confession!)and man a lot has happened over those two months!  We have been super busy.  If you follow us on Facebook you have probably seen what we have been up to.  Here is a short recap....

May 1st we moved into a small space at White Elephant (WE).  Sales were great our first couple of weeks and we decided this was a good direction for us so we started talking to the WE owners about more space.

Towards the end of May, we signed up for space at a new location in Springdale called Midtown Eclectic Mall. Not one week after we signed up for that space, WE had a large room available for us and we took it (no commitment issues here!). 

June 1st we moved into the space at Midtown and had a great first two weeks.  Then the owner at Midtown offered us a better space so during the 3rd weekend in June we moved our new booth into a newer booth space, within the same building.  The next week we moved our from our small space at WE in the big room they offered us.  So, we basically set up 2 booth spaces and then relocated them, all in 2 months,  (I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone!).

So, the outcome has been great.  Sales are amazing at both locations and we are really enjoying working on all our projects. We started out mostly buying and reselling vintage glassware, household and decor items, but have recently moved into restoring furniture and creating handmade items. 

Dan has joined us as a partner in this endeavor and Tyler is even getting involved more.  He is selling clocks, helping with some accounting work and is a great help when it comes to doing little projects.  Sam is starting to get involved too and I'm excited to get her input on some projects we have coming up.

We are still going to auctions, yard sales and thrift stores, but now with a new purpose. We have found a lot of great deals and love to pass them on to our customers.  We are buying cheap and keeping our overhead low so the typical person can enjoy our items without going broke buying them...this will remain our goal! 

We have really enjoyed spending time with the staff at both booth locations and  since we are at the booths so much, have starting building relationships with other vendors and the customer base.  One customer in particular has become a repeat customer and a good friend.

So when we first started the blog it was more of a "where to shop" and "this is what we like" kind of endeavor.  We have changed direction in the last few months.  We still do all the same stuff as before, but now with a new purpose.    

We really feel blessed to be able to do what we love.  It started out as a hobby but has turned into a passion and I'm so happy that it's a family effort.  We love having the kids involved and it's very fulfilling to create or restore something with your own blood and sweat, and have someone love it, buy it, and display it in their own homes.  We pray that we can continue to do what we love, with the people we love and turn a profit at the same time!

Below are pics of some of our booths and recent and upcoming projects...


Midtown, booth #1


Moving into larger booth at Midtown (caution...construction zone!)




Hutch, sold at Midtown, before & after


1940's vanity with mirror and bench, sold at Midtown



Shelves we painted at a customer's house


Moving into larger booth at White Elephant (yet another...construction zone!)




China cabinet, sold at Midtown


Pinterest inspired projects for Midtown & White Elephant (some are still available)






 Yardsale Treasures







































New merchandise, just waiting for a little inspiration & a new coat of paint (or fabric)!

Follow us on Facebook for new inventory pictures.  We also have multiple listings on Craigslist.  We do custom orders and custom paint jobs on your own furniture.  Message us for detials.

Other BIG news!!...

We will be selling items at a outdoor vintage market in September.  We are very excited! See details below.

 AND....I would like to say congrats to my brother on finally popping the question to his amazing girlfriend (and MVA blog co-conspirator) Ashley (while on vaca in Puerto Rico)! 


And another huge congrats to Andrea & Stephen on the very very early arrival of Miss Ava Helena, born June 21st, 4lbs, 1 oz. We did a shower for Andrea just 6 days earlier...glad we got that in when we did!!





Monday, May 13, 2013

Mother's Day Weekend

I hope all the mother's out there had a nice Mother's Day weekend.  We had a busy weekend.

Friday afternoon we went to an estate sale and a couple flea markets and shops. The highlight of Friday was Ann Marie's Farmhouse, located at 3095 Wagon Wheel Road in Springdale.  The shop is owned and ran by Melissa and her husband Jeff.   Their Facebook page can be found here. This shop is located in a cute little house, with each room filled with antiques, primitives, restored/repainted furniture and some shabby chic flair. She had an amazing Fire-king collection (I'm jealous!).  I really enjoyed meeting Melissa.  Below are some pics I took while at her shop.






Saturday morning we got up and hit about 10 yard sales around the area.  We picked up a nice set of Fire-king saucers, an old darkroom timer and a vintage trophy, among other neat pieces.


Saturday night we went to Cornerstone Auction House and loaded up on beautiful colored glass and other awesome treasures. Dan went with us and picked up a new flat screen TV.



While at Cornerstone, I visited with Ken, the auctioneer at Ken's Auction House.  He has a huge auction coming up in June at the Holiday Inn in Springdale.  It's going to be a big one!  Below are a few pics of what he has lined out so far.  It's my understanding that this list will be growing.  We will have another write up on this auction in a week or so.


After we got the car unloaded, from the earlier yard sales and auction, this is what my poor living room looked like.  Ty was a trooper and stayed up past midnight with me trying to get everything sorted and entered into my Spreadsheet (yes I'm OCD).


Sunday we met up with Mom & Dad and Cass & Ashley & Kendal for a Mother's Day breakfast. Kendal entertained us until breakfast arrived.

Afterwards we went home, took a nap, then went up to White Elephant to check on the booth and drop off some items.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.