Remember the heyday of roller skating? Jerene Nash does, and to this day she works in what used to be a roller rink: the Nearly New Shop in Mid City Mall. “We remodeled early last spring because we had carpet on the walls, and the fire marshal had us take it out,” she says. “But we still have the pretty floor.”
You still may be able to find roller skates on that floor, too, but more as collectibles than the main attraction. With the newly merchandised shop, Nash, who took over as manager in November, leads seven other employees in helping shoppers unearth hidden jewels. “We are a diamond in the rough right now,” she says. “We’re loaded with unclaimed treasures for people who realize the quality of what’s here.”
A significant portion of the clientele come for the shop’s selection of vintage clothes. “Some of the vintage pieces are not at a thrift store price, but there are things that have served us well,” Nash says. “They’re just different things that you don’t expect to turn quickly, but they do because of the vintage.”
It’s not just clothes at the Nearly New Shop; shoppers can find furniture, collectibles, toys and housewares – even furs (“... which is good or bad, depending on your perspective,” Nash qualifies).
Although many of the goods are consignment quality, Nash stresses that the store is a nonprofit and not a consignment shop. “Everything we sell goes back into the community through charity outlets that the National Council of Jewish Women support ... If we didn’t have the donations, we wouldn’t have the store.”
Donations come from unexpected places as well. Yudofsky contributes furs that customers have traded in. “That’s a high-ticket item for us, obviously,” says Nash. The shop also recently received a large estate collection of “wearable art” hand-knitted clothing. “You never know what you’re going to get,” says Nash. “Every time you check in a donation you never know what you’ll see.” Still, she says, people tend to be conscientious with their donations, providing up to a quarter of the stock in original packaging, and even more items that really are nearly new. “We get a lot of things that are just worn two or three times, especially shoes,” she says. “You can just tell.” Items not up to snuff are passed along to Cedar Lake Lodge or Goodwill. “We have guidelines,” Nash says. “We sell the unusual.”
The Nearly New Shop is located at 1250 Bardstown Road in the basement of Mid City Mall. For more information, call (502) 454-6633.
Contact the author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or www.leecopywriting.com.