10 Reasons Why We Love Kathy!

1. Yesterday was her birthday! Look at these gorgeous flowers she got! (Our awesome neighbors at All In Bloom created them for her!) We also took her out for delicious Mexican food and MARGARITAS at our OTHER awesome neighbors, Sol. Best salsa EVER.
2. Kathy has been with us since the beginning of Castaways in Washington! She has always been an amazing worker and it has been fun to watch her grow right along with my business.
3. She can rock a belt like no other!
4. She is HILAROUS! Her one~liners from the back room throw me into knee~buckling hysterics! Once, when completely overloaded with tagging intake, she held up a sign to our little window that said "Help Me". So FUNNY!
5. Speaking of tagging, she is a MACHINE! She can tag approximately 84,00 pieces of clothing per day!
6. When she's not at work, she is STILL crazy busy. She volunteers for WCBU and Wildlife Prairie Park and she plays frisbee golf and regular golf and sometimes hikes with her hubby. She also helps her family out with things they need and still manages to squeeze in time to travel a little. And shop!
7. She is an excellent role model on how to incorporate trends in a way that is completely age appropriate.
8. However she still manages to have her own little personal boho twist to her style.
9. She is almost always EARLY to work!
10. Did I mention that aside from being an absolutely fabulous employee, she is also a great friend? Yep, she's pretty great! :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Hope to see you at our Open House tomorrow!

Cindy

Spring Changes at Castaways

Don't you associate "Spring" with beginnings? The flowers begin to bloom, the grass turns a brilliant shade of green, and there is such a sense of fresh and NEW! That's kind of how we feel at Castaways right now. We've got so many new and exciting things in the works, we are buzzing with a fabulous energy that we can't wait to share with you!

Our intake room is up and running! Now you can bring your items to consign to the door right next door to Castaways! It is a room specially designed to process and tag your items to get them on the floor quickly and efficiently! If you have adult items, you may walk in with your items any time we are open! If you are a new consignor or you have children's clothing, please call 309-886-2424 for an appointment (please limit children's items to one tote per visit). We LOVE how smoothly things have been going since we started our intake room and we are STUNNED by how many items we are receiving! Keep 'em coming, we LOVE IT!

We have a new sales counter at Castaways and it is GORGEOUS, but we are going to make it even BETTER this Saturday, because we are going to fill it up with current fashion jewelry that is on trend and inexpensive! You will be able to find the PERFECT accent piece to make an already amazing outfit completely jaw~dropping!

Finally, we are gutting our current fitting rooms and rebuilding them at the end of the month! Now we will have four roomy fitting rooms painted a flattering color with plenty of light! No more lines! :)

We are moving in a wonderful new direction after seven years in Washington, and we could NEVER do it without you.... in fact, the renewal of this blog is yet another new beginning! Show your support and check in often! We will be sharing updates, interesting fashion advice, our favorite pins from Pinterest, and great photos of new arrivals and fun things that are happening in the store. We are always on a mission to make Castaways even BETTER for our FABULOUS customers!

Have a WONDERFUL day!

Cindy

Happy Birthday To Us!

Thank you to all of our fabulous customers! Without you we could have NEVER celebrated our SIXTH BIRTHDAY in Washington. And we've been open for over EIGHT YEARS overall! But who's counting? ;)

We certainly couldn't do it without your fabulous consignments, your happy faces coming into our doors, your continued loyalty, and YOUR excitement as we continue to grow.

We look forward to continuing this happy adventure for a long time to come!

You'll Only Find The Real Deal Here...

Ugh, those knockoff, purse party, designer inspired bags.... We are proud to say that at Castaways you will only find AUTHENTIC designer handbags. As we learn more about the industry, we have found that selling fake bags is WRONG WRONG WRONG. You can be sure you will ONLY find the real deal at Castaways. For more info on exactly WHY those fake bags are such bad news, click on this link from the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops.

The things I do for you.....

Image courtesy of Four Seasons

In just over one week, I will be heading off to Palm Beach to meet with 300-400 other consignment and resale shop owners for a NARTS (National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops) Conference. I will be meeting with the best of the best in the industry to make Castaways an even BETTER place for you to shop!

I will do networking, attend workshops, go on a bus tour of the shops in the Palm Beach area, I will listen to speakers.... and I will go to cocktail parties, and lovely dinners and spend time on the BEACH, for crying out LOUD... all in the name of bettering my business....

All kidding aside (because of course the trip will be amazing), the things I've heard about these Conferences have been so good. I can't wait to come back with renewed energy and a head and heart full of ideas on how to make Castaways even more boutiquey, upscale, and FUN for you guys. I feel like SO many shops get complacent. Once they've opened and establish their clientele, they feel like their job is done. I feel like I can ALWAYS learn more about the business and that Castaways ALWAYS has more room to grow. I can't wait to share what I've learned with you.

In the meantime, a part of me is dreaming of palm trees, sandy beaches, the sound of the ocean, sundresses, and flowers in my hair......

Dig A Little Deeper

Thanks for the image tradebit!

Have you ever seen the movie, The Princess and the Frog? Well, I am a HUGE fan of all things New Orleans, so I have seen it approximately 87 times since it came out. I assure you, the whole movie is super cute and you'll love it even more if you appreciate the culture of NOLA as much as I do.

Anyway, I digress. There is one particular scene in the movie where the two main characters, who have turned from humans into frogs go to a voodoo queen, Mama Odie in the hopes that she will make them human again (and that's all I'm gonna tell you about the plot, because if you haven't seen it, go RENT it, it's out on video, for Heaven's Sake!) Mama Odie proceeds to sing a song called "Dig A Little Deeper", which fits very nicely into the theme of the movie of which I shall not discuss any further.

Doesn't "Dig A Little Deeper" also apply to our CLOSETS? I think so. We've got the major spring/summer clean out done. But lets take things one step further. The super cute sundress that you're holding on to waiting for that perfect occasion? Or the one that the straps never quite work well with your bra? Castaways! They'll be PERFECT for someone, and you get the cash to buy the perfect thing for YOU! The designer bag you're holding on to because you paid so much money for it? C'mon. Wouldn't you rather have cash to purchase a purse you'll actually LOVE to carry? What about jewelry? Your little guy or gal's Rubbermaid tote that you've stored away in the vain hope that the next little one in line will wear it? Once you store it away and let the next one wear it, those items will lose just about all of their resale value! And honestly? You will have such strong memories and ties to those darling darling outfits on baby #1, you'll want your own new (to you) stuff to associate with the new baby (and you can find those items at Castaways!)

So, before we start thinking about the BIG BACK TO SCHOOL purge, why not look at your summer stash one more time? You might just find a still in the shipping package J Crew bikini or super cute Coach clutch that you couldn't quite jam all you stuff into? Or a great Nine West necklace that someone gave you but it didn't suit your style.... You know you have a few of these gems lying around.... So take advantage of this rainy day and turn them into CASH!!!

Cherry Festival Sale

Come Celebrate With Us During The Washington Cherry Festival!

Castaways Consignment

June 2 through June 5

Come shopping at Castaways during the Cherry Festival and save 20% on all regularly priced merchandise ~ AND check out our Red Line Wall ~ everything on it is HALF OFF! We love supporting our community ~ stop in and let us share a little of the love with you.