Treasure hunters unite at Designer Consignor
Barb Gallo, owner of Designer Consignor in Washington and McMurray loves finding a good deal. She enjoys garage sales, estate sales, recycling and keeping things out of the landfill.
Gallo landed her first job in a retail shop at the age of 15 and found her love for clothes, furniture and home d茅cor.
It set in motion her future of owning a consignment shop, and Designer Consignor officially opened in 2016.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a place where people come to share their love of treasure hunting but we also see the wedding pictures and the pictures of the children and grandchildren,鈥� Gallo said. 鈥淲e have a beautiful relationship with our customers and our consigners.鈥�
With thousands of consigners now sharing their quality, high-end items, Gallo said she and staff are very selective.
They weed out anything with spots, pilling or signs of wear.
To become a consigner, the potential client meets with Gallo to look a material they would like to sell and if it鈥檚 a good fit, there is a one-time, $20 fee to work with the store. Once they are signed up, they can bring items to either of their two locations with no appointment necessary.
鈥淥nce we have it out on the floor, we split the sale 50/50 with the consignor. We鈥檙e entering 200 to 400 new items every day so there鈥檚 always something different,鈥� Gallo said. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 discount your item for 30 days and it stays on the floor for 60.鈥�
The discounted items are known as 鈥渢ag sales,鈥� and Gallo says in addition to savings on brand name items, customers can receive deeper discounts for those items that are tagged as such.
Designer Consignor takes furniture and home d茅cor in addition to clothing, handbags and accessories.
They鈥檝e even started a downsizing/moving program for consigners.
鈥淎 lot of times when someone is downsizing, if they don鈥檛 want to do a huge estate sale, we offer an alternative. We鈥檒l pick up furniture, clothing, handbags and jewelry for a 50/50 split on moving costs. We鈥檒l have an itemized list and anything that doesn鈥檛 sell after day 60, the consigner has the option to donate or pick it back up,鈥� Gallo said.
For long-time customers, they鈥檝e also brought back children鈥檚 clothing.
鈥淲e want to make sure we鈥檙e meeting your needs. We used to have children鈥檚 clothing, and we got away from that years ago, but consigners and customers have been asking so we started taking them again,鈥� Gallo said.
In other efforts to meet the needs of her customers, Gallo hosts events on a regular basis with complimentary refreshments, raffles and big sales.
鈥淲e have a No Tricks, Just Treats Halloween event this fall and of course, lots of things going on for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday,鈥� Gallo said. 鈥淲e also love to give back. We host fundraisers for different organizations and causes in our community.鈥�
When asked if she plans to expand, Gallo said the organization and transparency she works to achieve can be labor intensive. It鈥檚 more important to serve the customers and consigners in the best way possible.
鈥淚 want to serve well. I don鈥檛 ever want the experience to be discounted, and I want it to be fabulous for both our consigners and customers,鈥� Gallo said. 鈥淭his is a team effort. I credit my amazing staff and the consigners and the customers for the success because it takes all of the players to make this successful.鈥�
Designer Consignor has two locations, one at 2858 Washington Road, McMurray and the other, at 2200 Tanger Blvd., Suite 877 in Washington.
Visit https://shopdesignerconsignor.com/ for more information.