Yep, it has been quite a while since my last entry - 4 months to be exact. Hmmmm, what excuses can I offer? Busy? Enjoying life? Sick? Well, actually, bits of all three, but knowing that I love to write, how have I allowed this to happen?
One reason is my great involvement with what I initially called the "Dead People's Store." This is our community's resale shop stocked with resident donations. When I moved in, a bit more than 2 years ago, I assumed donations were leftovers from residents who had recently died (after family members removed what they wanted) - hence my name, "Dead People's Store." Through the windows of the shop I could see vases and cards, partially used bottles of detergent, old irons and toasters, mismatched dishes and glasses and lots of what I labelled "old lady clothes." Because I was so busy babysitting my grandchildren during the day I was rarely here when the shop was open. The few times I did go in, I was struck by how very little I was interested in purchasing. What especially disturbed me was the pile of used (but clean) underwear for sale. ICK. Double ICK. Was this even legal?
When 2014 rolled around, when I had been here almost one year, I was approached by a resident who asked if I (together with two other friends, Cindy and Elise) would share management of the store? I almost fell out of my wheel chair (this happened right after the staph infection invaded my knee and started my year of difficulties) Really? Are you kidding? Manage those piles of used underwear? Of course not. But then, as often happens, my good ol' Catholic guilt reared its head as I reviewed how very much residents had helped me cope with my new, unexpected disabilities. It was time to give back. Somewhat reluctantly, I and my two friends, agreed.
The first thing we did was toss out the underwear. When the previous manager explained that the people who bought them were residents who live in Assisted Living or in the Health Center - and couldn't get out to shop in town - I declared I would personally set up Amazon accounts for anyone who wanted underwear and order correct sizes for them. It was great to watch the underwear disappear.
What I didn't expect is how very much I would come to enjoy this new volunteer job. We divided management into three parts, each of us tackling one. Elise runs the actual store - training new volunteer clerks, keeping everything looking nice, handling advertising, dealing with the unexpected. Cindy handles clearing the apartments of residents who have died - taking what can be used in the store. I handle the third part - sorting all the donations that arrive in my work space - a large area in the basement called the Cage.
I have learned many things during this first year of store management:
#1 Only about 40-45% of our donations come from residents who died; most come from current residents who are downsizing. Some are new residents who brought too much with them when they moved in. They over-calculated what would actually fit in their units. Others are from existing residents who are tired of tripping over too many belongings. We all wonder why we keep accumulating stuff when we have finite space?
#2 Only about 20% of the total donations end up in the store. Most are more than gently used and go directly to charity. We support the homeless, low income housing residents, local service organizations and charities. For example, in 2014 we donated more than two tons of clothing to the homeless in Portland. Our goal is to keep things out of the landfill - we try to find a home for anything we can't use in the store.
#3 It isn't best practices to sell used underwear (duh!) or partly used bottles of detergent. One of our administrators met with us soon after we took over to review our practices. He agreed - nope to underwear and nope to partially used items (can we be certain that Tide is actually in the partially used Tide bottle? Or has the resident used the bottle for something else? As he said this, I must admit, I mentally reviewed how very often I did exactly that without changing the label - hey, I knew it had the rat poison in it!).
#4 It is really fun to put into practice many of the concepts we discussed in the Econ classes I taught at Carmel High. It does indeed matter where you place things on shelves, the colors and designs of displays, cleverness of ads, etc. And pricing - oh my goodness. Former students of mine out there - I have actually found myself muttering, "hmm, this has elastic demand, we should lower the price."
#5 Because I control supply (it's all stored in the Cage), I usually determine the next sales event - whatever is piling up in my storage area. It is fun to use sales to entice residents into the store. For example, our latest event was on April Fool's Day. I put on display all the items from my mystery box - the donations whose function I could not figure out. There were odd pieces of carved wood, large convoluted metal pieces that defied description, weird looking tools and molded plastic forms that seemed inexplicable. At the end I displayed 22 items with paper beneath each for suggestions as to their uses. We awarded the pieces of junk to those who came up with the best ideas. It was lots of fun and, incredibly, most winners wanted the stuff! Go figure.
By the way, I no longer call it the Dead People's Store. Its real name is the Carousel. Although it was probably selected as a cute name, I think it also reflects the revolving ownership of its merchandise. I must admit, I laugh when I get a donation that still has a Carousel tag on it. Then I check the price. Does it still work or do I need to change it?
I have lots more to say about the store but will save it for later entries. Look forward to reading about the problems with the naked mannequin, surprising items that people drop off, how working in the Cage saved my sanity during the worst moments of my knee difficulties last year, and the challenges of meeting the needs of retired male residents.
One reason is my great involvement with what I initially called the "Dead People's Store." This is our community's resale shop stocked with resident donations. When I moved in, a bit more than 2 years ago, I assumed donations were leftovers from residents who had recently died (after family members removed what they wanted) - hence my name, "Dead People's Store." Through the windows of the shop I could see vases and cards, partially used bottles of detergent, old irons and toasters, mismatched dishes and glasses and lots of what I labelled "old lady clothes." Because I was so busy babysitting my grandchildren during the day I was rarely here when the shop was open. The few times I did go in, I was struck by how very little I was interested in purchasing. What especially disturbed me was the pile of used (but clean) underwear for sale. ICK. Double ICK. Was this even legal?
When 2014 rolled around, when I had been here almost one year, I was approached by a resident who asked if I (together with two other friends, Cindy and Elise) would share management of the store? I almost fell out of my wheel chair (this happened right after the staph infection invaded my knee and started my year of difficulties) Really? Are you kidding? Manage those piles of used underwear? Of course not. But then, as often happens, my good ol' Catholic guilt reared its head as I reviewed how very much residents had helped me cope with my new, unexpected disabilities. It was time to give back. Somewhat reluctantly, I and my two friends, agreed.
The first thing we did was toss out the underwear. When the previous manager explained that the people who bought them were residents who live in Assisted Living or in the Health Center - and couldn't get out to shop in town - I declared I would personally set up Amazon accounts for anyone who wanted underwear and order correct sizes for them. It was great to watch the underwear disappear.
What I didn't expect is how very much I would come to enjoy this new volunteer job. We divided management into three parts, each of us tackling one. Elise runs the actual store - training new volunteer clerks, keeping everything looking nice, handling advertising, dealing with the unexpected. Cindy handles clearing the apartments of residents who have died - taking what can be used in the store. I handle the third part - sorting all the donations that arrive in my work space - a large area in the basement called the Cage.
I have learned many things during this first year of store management:
#1 Only about 40-45% of our donations come from residents who died; most come from current residents who are downsizing. Some are new residents who brought too much with them when they moved in. They over-calculated what would actually fit in their units. Others are from existing residents who are tired of tripping over too many belongings. We all wonder why we keep accumulating stuff when we have finite space?
#2 Only about 20% of the total donations end up in the store. Most are more than gently used and go directly to charity. We support the homeless, low income housing residents, local service organizations and charities. For example, in 2014 we donated more than two tons of clothing to the homeless in Portland. Our goal is to keep things out of the landfill - we try to find a home for anything we can't use in the store.
#3 It isn't best practices to sell used underwear (duh!) or partly used bottles of detergent. One of our administrators met with us soon after we took over to review our practices. He agreed - nope to underwear and nope to partially used items (can we be certain that Tide is actually in the partially used Tide bottle? Or has the resident used the bottle for something else? As he said this, I must admit, I mentally reviewed how very often I did exactly that without changing the label - hey, I knew it had the rat poison in it!).
#4 It is really fun to put into practice many of the concepts we discussed in the Econ classes I taught at Carmel High. It does indeed matter where you place things on shelves, the colors and designs of displays, cleverness of ads, etc. And pricing - oh my goodness. Former students of mine out there - I have actually found myself muttering, "hmm, this has elastic demand, we should lower the price."
#5 Because I control supply (it's all stored in the Cage), I usually determine the next sales event - whatever is piling up in my storage area. It is fun to use sales to entice residents into the store. For example, our latest event was on April Fool's Day. I put on display all the items from my mystery box - the donations whose function I could not figure out. There were odd pieces of carved wood, large convoluted metal pieces that defied description, weird looking tools and molded plastic forms that seemed inexplicable. At the end I displayed 22 items with paper beneath each for suggestions as to their uses. We awarded the pieces of junk to those who came up with the best ideas. It was lots of fun and, incredibly, most winners wanted the stuff! Go figure.
By the way, I no longer call it the Dead People's Store. Its real name is the Carousel. Although it was probably selected as a cute name, I think it also reflects the revolving ownership of its merchandise. I must admit, I laugh when I get a donation that still has a Carousel tag on it. Then I check the price. Does it still work or do I need to change it?
I have lots more to say about the store but will save it for later entries. Look forward to reading about the problems with the naked mannequin, surprising items that people drop off, how working in the Cage saved my sanity during the worst moments of my knee difficulties last year, and the challenges of meeting the needs of retired male residents.
