NARTS Conference 2012

 I spent the weekend in St. Louis at a Conference specifically for owners of resale and thrift shops. There were over 400 women (and men) there and for four days we ate, had cocktails, socialized, and took workshops on various topics concerning our shops. We never stopped. I taught a group of people some Facebook tricks over a glass of wine at a restaurant bar. The opportunities to share information NEVER stopped presenting themselves, and I am FULL of fabulous new ideas for Castaways!

Here is my hotel room. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, also known as the Lap of Luxury. I came back every evening exhausted, but still lounged in that bed with my pen and notebook, writing down and prioritizing all of my great ideas.

 This is Kerstin Block, owner of a chain of 44 resale stores called Buffalo Exchange. She was amazing to talk to and definitely a wonderful mentor. I have four heroes in this business, and Kerstin is definitely one of them. I want to be her when I grow up! :)

 Here are Dot and I on our first evening at Conference, at the Getting To Know You party. So much fun!  Meeting so many people is always a little overwhelming, but so exciting.

 On the first day, we took a bus trip to several shops in the area. This one, Back on The Rack, was my favorite, simply because it reminded me most of Castaways. Look at all of these resale shoppers! I WISH I could have 400 shop owners come visit. It would be quite the party!

 Another shop on the trip was Women's Closet Exchange. Amazing! Just LOOK at all of the Louis Vuittons. We were all drooling.

This shop was Scholarshop, a non for profit shop that uses it's proceeds to provide college scholarships to about 60 local students per year. SO cool! This was just a portion of their crazy amount of donations that were waiting to be tagged. It was mind boggling. And it is all name brand, lots of designer. Wow!

Many friendships were forged at Conference. We loved Kimberly and Cathy from Atlanta, Georgia! Their story reminds me so much of Castaways, and I wish them the greatest success!

It was a wonderful weekend, and I am relaxing today and trying to decide which of my HUGE list of ideas to do first. My staff is probably a little excited... and also a little bit frightened. :) The good news is that I came back reassured that we are already doing a LOT right! But there are ALWAYS things we can do better, so look forward to seeing some really amazing ideas being put into action.  Already looking forward to NEXT year's Conference, this time in San Diego.  Ahhhhh........

Can't wait to see you all at the shop this week!
Cindy