Cherry Consignment: West Seattle store’s “grand opening” party
A week and a half after first mention of the new West Seattle clothing store Cherry Consignment, it welcomed shoppers to a grand-opening party tonight. West Seattle writer Mary Sheely covered it in her first assignment for WSB.
Story and photos by Mary Sheely
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Nyla Bittermann (photo left) and Tracy Dart envisioned their new store, Cherry Consignment, as a place that would welcome the community. And that community includes all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Tonight, the night of the store’s grand-opening party, prices ranged from $4-$75 and sizes from 0 to 28 (plus men’s and maternity clothing) could be spotted on the racks. And the customers came in for both.
“Nyla’s vision is to serve the fringes—those of us who can’t find stuff in a lot of consignment stores,” says shopper Jaime Untz, whom Bittermann calls “our PR person.”
“We should be able to go into a store and try stuff on and make a day of it and feel pampered,” Untz says.
Even more important to Dart and Bittermann than Cherry Consignment’s selection and prices is the new store’s atmosphere — and they’re not talking about the cherry art that decorates the walls.
“We want people to come in and feel comfortable and have a good experience,” Dart says, likening Cherry Consignment to a shopping outing with girlfriends. As if on cue, a shopper approaches with two denim jackets, asking Dart, “Tell me honestly — which of these look better?” [At left, that’s Carlisia Minnis, a clothing designer who recently worked with Bittermann on a Ruby Room fundraiser, perusing the racks.]
“We’ve noticed already that this is a place where people chat,” Bittermann says. “There was one group that was like a West Seattle high school reunion—they all happened to come in at the same time and stood here talking for 45 minutes.”
Both women are clearly enjoying their work. “When we’re in this space, we’re in a time warp, because it goes so fast,” says Bittermann. “We joke that we play store.”
“It’s not even like being at work,” Dart says.
But Cherry Consignment is doing serious business, increasing sales in each of the three weeks since opening its doors. That could be because Bittermann, who also founded and runs The Ruby Room, a nonprofit that provides prom dresses for teenage girls, understands the desire for quality clothing even in a difficult economy.
“I’m a mom of three living on a budget,” she says. “Obviously, that makes it hard to get name brand clothes at regular store prices.”
And Cherry Consignment does have the name brands, as shopper Carol Mansfield discovered. “Really, how often can you get Dooney & Burke stuff?” she marvels, paying for a leather handbag that appears brand-new. Names on the racks include major players like Escada and Betsey Johnson, as well as clothing by Banana Republic and Nine West.
The selection is still a bit unbalanced, with the better brands concentrated in the smaller sizes, but Dart is planning to add a stockpile of clothing to the plus-size racks in the coming week. She and Bittermann took over the stock of Designer Labels, the previous store in the space, and have greatly expanded it. “Literally, every day we get two or three people coming in with more to sell,” Dart says.
Both Dart and Bittermann stress that the success of other West Seattle businesses is as important as their own. They’re hoping to cross-promote with other local consignment shops through special events and marketing.
“Seeing empty storefronts in West Seattle is a wake-up call for all businesses to support each other,” says West Seattle native Dart. “Shopping in your own neighborhood and supporting the neighborhood is gaining popularity. We’re really in tune with West Seattle.”
Bittermann, who has lived in West Seattle for 20 years, agrees. “To have a store in our hometown,” she says, “I think that is my favorite part.” [At right, Frances Hinson, who says, “I love shopping at consignment stores. …You can get something fun and not have to worry about the cost.” She later purchased a glittery ensemble to wear to the opera.]
Cherry Consignment sells women’s and men’s clothing and accessories. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at 4142 California SW (map). The store is currently accepting fall and winter clothes in current styles — no appointment necessary, but clothing should be cleaned, pressed, and on hangers. A new website is coming soon at cherryconsign.com.
decent enough community/people interest article, but next time, please place the address of the place or event in the first paragraph.
Why should it be in the first paragraph, Mark?
In a way, it IS in the lead line. We link extensively – one of the major advantages of the Internet – so that every page can be like the hub of a wheel, with many paths out to other information if you want to know it. One click on “Cherry Consignment” opens its site, with the address big and bold. That aside, we actually didn’t mention street addresses in stories like these until about two weeks ago, when a longtime WSB’er suggested it. So we always appreciate suggestions; do want to make sure, though, that everyone realizes the links in our stories are hand-chosen, hand-coded and relevant (and we believe in coding them to open new windows/tabs so that you don’t lose your original place) … TR
It looks like there may be a typo in the “Cherry Consignment” link, because it brings up a generic website available for purchase rather than a site specific to this West Seattle Store.
I am looking forward to shopping here though, as well as possibly offloading some of my maternity clothes.
The link on the blog is to cherryconsignment.com, but the store web address is cherryconsign.com.
Love the logo!
I love that you are carrying all sizes and taking Men’s clothes too. When we first saw the sign my husband said “They should carry men’s clothes too.” And later we found out you do! Congrats, we wish you much success!
@WSB: 2 reasons for placing the actual address in the first paragraph of the article: 1) I’m lazy and don’t want to click through to another site or to read the whole article, just see the address and go there. 2) as Carole points points out, the link you’ve provided is incorrect. I think articles like this should be the same as newspaper articles, with all important information on the front page above the fold.
After all that braggadocio about linking, I did go and put in the WRONG link – stupid error, I am red-faced, fixed now, sorry. Having linked them previously in the events calendar and the original short mention of their opening, I knew the url by heart and have no excuse for adding the nonexistent four letters! – TR
Next time, Mark, we’ll just print nothing BUT the address — why waste time reading store names? ; )
Sounds like a good addition to the WS business community, and cheers to everyone who recognizes how much locally owned businesses are a big part of what make this a great place to live. Also thrilled to see more freelance writers on WSB. I’m a big fan of another blog Mary writes for, shelterrific.
Go Nyla!
Man, and I JUST donated 4 huge Hefty-sized sacks of clothing since the other consignment shops I’d dealt with in the past had somewhat strict policies, and it became more of a hassle than it was worth (same with selling on eBay). I think I have a handful more items hanging about, so I’ll have to stop by and take a look.
Congrats, Nyla and Tracy! Wishing you and CC all the best.
I just hope they’re better than Funky Jane’s. I walked in there one day with a box of clothes I was hoping to consign and was greeted with a rude, “Do you want to sell?” I said yes, I did, and the woman just handed me a sheet and said “These are our rules. Read them before coming back.”
I had some good items, but just ran them down to Plato’s Closet at Southcenter instead of dealing with that “lovely” woman at FJ’s again.
Congrats Nyla and Tracy!