Tagged shopping tips
Bring it On!
This coming weekend is the 9th annual Half-Pint Resale, the area’s largest (and local) children’s consignment sale. With only a few days left before the sale, we hope you’ve got your resuable bags ready and your cheat sheets complete.
Here are a couple of other things that might help you with your shopping extravaganza:
1) Volunteers will be wearing black and will be wearing nametags. They are here to help you! There are a couple of volunteers with special duties that will really help you out: Volunteers in the GEAR AREA will help you purchase large items so you can easily purchase them without hindering the rest of your shopping experience. Volunteers with a ASK ME ABOUT BABY CARRIERS sign on their backs are ladies who know a TON about baby carriers and will be hanging around in that area during a few hours of the sale to help you try carriers on and learn about what will be best for you and your baby. We hope that these folks will help make your shopping experience better.
2) There are two main areas at the Madison Curling Club. In the lobby area, there are tables, seats, and places to just take a load off! There will even be some folks selling food (and cupcakes!) on Saturday and Sunday (yumyum). The sale area is in the arena part of the building. Once you head into the sale area, you will not be able to bring any merchandise with you back into the lobby area. We will have hold tables where you could bag your items, if you say, need to go sit and nurse your babe or use the restroom (or get a sugar fix!). NOTE: The temperature in the sale is similar in temperature to the temperature outside. Need to warm up? The lobby area is for you!
3) Spend some time reading through our Shopping Tips. There are a few things to highlight…
4) Strollers are NOT allowed during peak shopping times (anything before Noon on Saturday). It gets so crowded and it would be unsafe for everyone. We also highly recommend you not bring children. We know – sometimes you have no choice! But we’ve had several kids get lost (think kids shorter than the racks and at some peak shopping times, several hundred people packing the space). Finally, Children of any size that are WORN in a carrier are ALWAYS welcome, anytime! If you do bring kids, please make sure that they aren’t playing with the toys or sitting in the gear. We’ve had kids break things which they become unsellable. Thanks for understanding!
5) Like the last sale, there will not be an Express Lane at this sale... I don’t imagine there are too many people saying boohoo because for those of you who have waited in that Express Lane earlier in the sale when the lines are longer, you know that it didn’t actually get you through any faster and was hard to manage. We will continue to manage lines as best as possible and think you’ll find our bagging system swift and our hard-working volunteers fabulous.
6) Check out all of our tips about holding items on our shopping tips page. Remember that items can stay on the Hold table for one hour maximum. PLEASE! Don’t abandon items on this table! Shoppers and consignors alike miss out!
And last, but not least, We only take cash and check! Keeping consignor checks as high as possible and keeping as much money in the community as possible. Thanks for understanding!
Looking forward to seeing you:
Saturday, April 21- 9am-9pm (new longer hours!), and Sunday, April 22- 8am-1pm when everything is half off!
-Ellen and Lisa
Shopping Tips for Fall 2011 Half-Pint Resale
Let’s do it!
This coming weekend is the 8th annual Half-Pint Resale, the area’s largest (and entirely local) children’s consignment sale. With only a few days left before the sale, we hope you’ve got your resuable bags ready and your cheat sheets complete.
Here are a couple of other things that might help you with your shopping extravaganza:
1) Volunteers will be wearing black and will be wearing nametags. They are here to help you! There are a couple of volunteers with special duties that will really help you out: Volunteers with a GEAR VOLUNTEER sign on their backs will help you purchase large items in the gear room/area so you can easily purchase them without hindering the rest of your shopping experience. (For at least Friday, Gear will have it’s own special room off of the front lobby, so watch for it!) Volunteers with a ASK ME ABOUT BABY CARRIERS sign on their backs are ladies who know a TON about baby carriers and will be hanging around in that area during a few hours of the sale to help you try carriers on and learn about what will be best for you and your baby. We hope that these folks will help make your shopping experience better. As always, we’d love to hear if it was a help!
2) Who are those folks selling delicious food/coffee of hot coffee outside our sale doors and in the Cafe on the other side of the Goodman Center building? Why, it’s the ever delicious and socially conscious Ironworks Cafe. Trying to decide to buy or not to buy? Just remember that every purchase helps teens learn important skills regarding running a business – or perhaps is even making a future chef!
3) Parking! We talk about alot about parking because it isn’t plentiful at the Goodman Community Center. However, the staff there are truly fabulous and have worked with other businesses around the area to have overflow parking. You’ll want to take a look at this post and map, but also be watchful for signs as you get to the center, as there may be signs out leading you to the jewel of the parking world. And please, we are begging you NOT to park in anything labeled “fire lane”, “seniors only”, or “no parking”, and in the Madison Kipp lot that is right across the railroad tracks from the GCC lot. (Danke!)
4) Spend some time reading through our Shopping Tips. There are a few things to highlight…
5) Strollers are NOT allowed during peak shopping times (anything before 5pm on Friday). It gets so crowded and it would be unsafe for everyone. We also highly recommend you not bring children. We know – sometimes you have no choice! But we’ve had several kids get lost (think kids shorter than the racks and at some peak shopping times, several hundred people packing the space). Finally, Children of any size that are WORN in a carrier are ALWAYS welcome, anytime! If you do bring kids, please make sure that they aren’t playing with the toys or sitting in the gear. We’ve had kids break things which they become unsellable. Thanks for understanding!
6) Like the last sale, there will not be an Express Lane at this sale... I don’t imagine there are too many people saying boohoo because for those of you who have waited in that Express Lane earlier in the sale when the lines are longer, you know that it didn’t actually get you through any faster and was hard to manage. We will continue to manage lines as best as possible and think you’ll find our new bagging system swift and our hard-working volunteers fabulous.
7) Check out all of our tips about holding items on our shopping tips page. Remember that items can stay on the Hold table for one hour maximum. PLEASE! Don’t abandon items on this table! Shoppers and consignors alike miss out!
8) Finally, don’t forget to bring a donation for the Goodman Community Center’s Fritz Food Pantry. Thanks again to the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, everyone who donates will be entered to win ICE CREAM FOR A YEAR. You will find the donation box in the Lobby of the Gymnasium (the location of the sale) Thursday – Saturday.
And last, but not least, We only take cash and check! Keeping consignor checks as high as possible and keeping as much money in the community as possible. Thanks for understanding!
Looking forward to seeing you:
Friday, September 8- 2pm-9pm (new longer hours!), and Saturday, September 9- 9-Noon, and 1pm-5pm (when everything is half off!)
-Ellen and Lisa
PS If you haven’t seen it yet – make sure you check out the VIDEO of the last fall/winters sale in action!
Insider Shopping Tips
Hey, all! With Half-Pint just a day away, we hope you’re getting your reusable bag ready as well as cheat sheets! And don’t forget to grab any paper bags you happen to have at your house for us to use… Just bring them with you to the sale and stash them with a volunteer at the checkout lane.
A few other things we want to let you know:
1) This year, for the first time, we have volunteers who will be working just to HELP you, our shoppers. We will have volunteers wearing Question marks on their backs – these are our Information Volunteers. They will help you find a bag, decide which bath tub to buy, and let you know the ins and outs of cloth diapering. They can show you the bathroom, help you find a good place to nurse, and find an Organizer if there is something she can’t answer. We’ll have someone working all day Friday during the public sale, as well as Saturday morning.
We also will have volunteers during the public sale on Friday who are solely there to help you determine what BABY CARRIER you need! They can let you know the plus’s and minus’s of each carrier, and most importantly, show you how to safely WEAR the carrier. So if you are in the market for a carrier, these volunteers are there to help. They even talked about possibly carrying a baby doll with them so they can show you how they work!
2) You won’t want to miss the Half-Pint Special over at Ironworks Cafe. During some of the sale they may even have someone outside our doors selling the goods. Don’t miss it!
3) Parking! We talk about alot about parking because it isn’t plentiful at the Goodman Community Center. However, the staff there are truly fabulous and have worked with other businesses around the area to have overflow parking. You’ll want to take a look at this post and map, but also be watchful for signs as you get to the center, as there may be signs out leading you to the jewel of the parking world. And please, we are begging you NOT to park in anything labeled “fire lane” or “no parking”, and in the Madison Kipp lot that is right across the railroad tracks from the GCC lot.
4) Don’t forget to bring an item for our Baby Food Drive! Be entered to win Ice Cream for a Year!
5) Spend some time reading through our Shopping Tips. There are a few things to note:
6) Strollers are NOT allowed during peak shopping times, namely anything before 5pm on Friday. It gets so crowded and it would be unsafe for everyone. We also highly recommend you not bring children. we know – sometimes you have no choices! But we’ve had several kids get lost (think shorter than the racks and at some peak shopping times, several hundred people packing the space). Finally, Children that are WORN are ALWAYS welcome, anytime! If you do bring kids, please make sure that they aren’t playing with the toys or sitting in the gear. We’ve had kids break things which they become unsellable. Thanks for understanding!
7) Our holding system changed a bit this year. First, if you are buying a large item in the “gear” area, find the Gear Volunteer (who will be properly labeled). She will get you a slip that you will take to the counter to buy it. Also, the hold tables will primarily be used for items that are big enough to pick up, but that would be in the way during shopping. The hold table is also fine for an entire Bag full of items/clothing that you plan to purchase, and knotted in the handles. You will then ask the gear volunteer for a hold slip. Items can stay on the Hold table for one hour maximum. PLEASE! Do not abandon these bags!!!!!
8) We only take cash and check!
Looking forward to seeing you:
Friday 2pm-8pm, and Saturday 8-Noon, and 1pm-5pm (when everything is half off!)
-Ellen and Lisa