After working as a hair stylist and real estate agent, Ashley Free, pictured here with Goldie, 2, and Tate, 3, is opening her first business, a consignment shop called The Shelf, in early December.
New local business owner Ashley Free will open her consignment shop, The Shelf, Dec. 3. The unique business model sells mini wardrobe spaces to vendors on a weekly basis.
If it's time to get your shelf together, Ashley Free can help.
The Thatcher mom of two toddlers and aspiring entrepreneur is launching a new kind of consignment shop in the Valley, dubbed The Shelf. Come the soft opening at 10 a.m. Dec. 3, it's her hope that all 16 of her mini consignment booths are filled with clothes looking for their next home.
After working as a hair stylist and real estate agent, Ashley Free, pictured here with Goldie, 2, and Tate, 3, is opening her first business, a consignment shop called The Shelf, in early December.
PHOTO CHAZ ORNELAS
"It's kinda popping up," Free said of the mini closet model she's replicated at 1491 W. Thatcher Blvd., Suite 105. She said she'd seen similar stores in Utah and Georgia.
"Selling on Facebook is kinda painful," she said, adding that she'd been scammed in the past over baby clothes. The Shelf is based on the model of porch sales, where higher-end, second-hand merchandise is curated more than the average yard sale.Â
"Ideally, it's mostly women's and children's," she said, "...everything clean and very gently used. It's such a simple concept."Â
The store will be kid friendly, she said, with a special space set up for children, and she's placed hot-pink chairs throughout the store, hoping that shoppers will want to linger. Several local boutiques will nest smaller versions of their businesses inside The Shelf, too.
New local business owner Ashley Free will open her consignment shop, The Shelf, Dec. 3. The unique business model sells mini wardrobe spaces to vendors on a weekly basis.
PHOTO CHAZ ORNELAS
Via Instagram (@theshelfconsign) consigners can reserve a shelf for $25 ($20 for the month of December) per week, and show up with a bin of clothing before store open hours to set up their display. With room for shoes, handbags, and other accessories, each mini booth has several shelves, (of course) and a dowel to hang garments. Free will provide tags and hangers. At the end of the week, venders collect two-thirds of their sales and unsold items. (Free said she will also accept donations of unsold goods, which will be given to charity.)
"I did it all myself," she said of the flooring, painting and design. "I got the keys [the] beginning of November," she said, laughing a bit at her own ambition. "I just wanted to get it going."
