Reminder!

A quick reminder to all our friends and customers:

We will be closed Sunday, March 31, in observance of Easter.

 

We will re-open at the regular time on Monday, April 1.

(No fooling!)

Since next week is Spring Break in Jefferson County, we want to wish all of our friends who may be traveling safe journeys.  We want everyone to come back to us safely.

If you'll be staying in town, be sure to stop by the store.  We'll be here all week.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Rules of the House

At YesterNook, we love to see our friends (new and old) coming to visit as often as they can.  From time to time, however, we think it's helpful to remind everyone of the (very few) rules of the house.

But first, a brief announcement:

YesterNook will be closed this Sunday, March 31, in observance of Easter.  

We will be open regular hours on Saturday.

And now, back to the regularly scheduled blog post.  Here are some things to keep in mind when shopping at YesterNook.

1.  We're glad to accept credit and debit cards for your purchases, but we do have a firm minimum of a 10 dollar purchase to use a card.  This is to offset the fees that we are charged to accept the cards.  Thanks for understanding.

2.  For your protection and ours, if your card isn't signed, we will ask to see identification.

3.  Please ask for assistance if you need help reaching an item or taking an item out of a booth to purchase.  We'll be glad to help you move furniture and other items.  It's really no bother.

4.  If you do want to purchase an item that you cannot bring to the register, just bring the tag from the item.  If you want something from the garage, just bring the tag inside.

5.  We can hold a large purchase for you to arrange to transport it, but only for two days.  After that, we may charge a holding fee.  As big as the store is, we really do have limited space for holding items.

6.  We cannot hold unpurchased items.  Thanks for understanding this.

7.  Our vendors are allowed to set their own prices on items, as they are the ones who know best about their own merchandise.  Please understand that we are not free to negotiate prices on items that belong to other vendors.  If an item is priced at $50 or more, we will be glad to call a vendor to inquire about negotiating.  However, we cannot guarantee that any vendor will be willing to take a lower offer.

8.  If you are looking for something in particular, please feel free to ask, but please understand if we're not sure about it.  We try to keep on top of new items coming in, but with forty vendors coming in all throughout the week, we do miss things.  Your best bet is always to check the booths very carefully.

9.  If there is anything we can do to make your YesterNook experience better for you, please let us know.  We'll be glad to assist in anyway possible.

10.  We understand that accidents happen and sometimes things get broken.  Please let us know, so that we can get it cleaned up quickly.  Your safety is our primary concern.

11.  Take your time and enjoy yourself while you're in the store.  Stop and chat for a while.  Get something to drink and sit for a while.  We want you to make yourself at home in the store.  This is probably the most important house rule of all!

There you have them!  The (very few) rules of the house at YesterNook!  We hope that they'll help you have a safe and happy visit.  We look forward to seeing you soon and often!

Transformations

Spring is a time for changes and transformations.  Flowers that have been dormant in the ground for months bloom.  Caterpillars spin their cocoons to emerge later as butterflies.  Already the days are longer, indicating that the long dark nights of winter are coming to an end.

We often extend these transformations to our surroundings.  Now is the time for yard work and spring cleaning.  It's time to start on those warmer weather projects!

We understand projects and transformations at YesterNook.  Take a look at this caterpillar of a desk:

Now, look at the butterfly it turned into, with a little bit of paint and elbow grease:

How cool is that?  Change is in the air at YesterNook!  At any given time, you can find lots of pieces in the store that have been given a new lease on life.  Keep checking our Facebook page for photos of the latest creations!

If you are more of the DIY type of person, don't forget we have a rough room full of projects in the making.  You may also find the perfect project piece sitting in a booth in the store.  You wouldn't be the first one to do so!

We love to hear about the things that our customers and friends have created with their YesterNook finds.  Send us a photo and we'll be glad to feature it here on the blog or on Facebook.

Vendor Spotlight: Gary and Sarah (Booth 65)

 Gary and Sarah have been at YesterNook since the store opened, but their history as resellers goes back much farther than that.  Gary started as a teenager, selling baseball cards at local shows when he was just sixteen.  That experience led to interests in other vintage items, and the rest is history. Sarah got bit by the bug when she and Gary started dating.  Gary playfully says that he "infected" her.  (He also still has lots of those old baseball cards.)

Naturally, sports memoribilia is one of the items Gary still collects and specializes in, along with signs, thermometers, and clocks.  Sarah also has several collections, including depression glass, cameos, and smoking ashtrays.

Selling at YesterNook has been a positive experience for both of them.  Gary describes the store as "a nice compromise between the larger malls and the specialty shops."  They like the fact that "there is something for everyone because the inventory changes so fast."

They certainly do their part to keep the store fresh and exciting each week.  Working as a team, they hunt for items together, then plan and stock the booth together.  Gary says that they enjoy the hunt for merchandise.  "We work really hard to bring in neat items."

The hard work seems to pay off for them, as they always seem to have unique items in their booth. From Fenton to Roseville to advertising, the list is seemingly endless.  You can find their booth, which is in the room called Edith, by walking up the steps onto the first floor and going straight.  Booth 65 is one of several in this room.  As you face the large windows, it is one of the booths on your left.

Selling

Now that the rush, bustle, and spending of the holiday season is over, many of us are looking for some ways to cut back and save for things like summer trips.  One way that some people look to do this is by selling unwanted/unneeded items that they may have.  While there are lots of ways to go about this, one option that some choose is selling to a store like YesterNook.  Since we are having a little increase in prospective sellers right now, we thought it would be helpful to share some suggestions that can help make the process easier on you and on us.

Please remember when you bring items in for us to look at that there are many questions we have to ponder.  Is this an appropriate item for the store?  How many of them do we have right now?  What is our history with this type of item?  What kinds of items do we need in the store? 

These are the kinds of questions that we are thinking about when we look at each item.  The answers help us make our decisions about making offers on items.  They are not easy answers to come by sometimes and some of them can change from week to week.  Let’s look at two of them as an example.

Is this an appropriate item for the store?  YesterNook has some guidelines concerning items that its vendors can and cannot sell.  Your WWII era pistol may be a really great item for military collectors, but we, as a store, don’t sell weapons.  There are plenty of other places that do, however.

Another aspect of appropriateness  concerns the kind of store YesterNook is.  While we do sell older and vintage items, we’re not really an “antique” store, per se.  At least not when it comes to true higher-end antiques.  We’re just not set up to deal with certain items, and the offers that we could make on them probably wouldn’t be fair to you.  We’re just not the store for your classic, priceless Ming dynasty urn.  We could possibly make some recommendations to you of other places to try and sell it.

What kinds of items do we need in the store?  Need is a tricky item to quantify when it comes to stock, because it can change within a few days.  On Monday, we can be overrun with couches, and, by Wednesday, there won’t be one in sight.  As of this writing and posting, we don’t need many small items.  We’ll still look at things and consider them, but, if we don’t have a huge need in a certain area, then we buy less there.  What catches our eye during those times are well-kept pieces that are older and fairly unique.

If you do think that you have some items that you would like to sell, here are some guidelines to help you:

First, contact the store before dropping by.  A few questions over the phone can maybe save you a trip.  Some times at the store or busier than others, so calling can keep you from dropping in during a real rush period.

Next, think about what you want to sell the items for.  One of the first things that you’re going be asked in the store is “How much were you wanting to sell this for?”  It’s always better for you to have a number in mind as a starting point, as long as it’s a realistic number.

Make sure that your asking price isn’t being clouded by things like sentiment or nostalgia, which have no bearing on actual value.  Also remember that just because something is old, doesn’t mean that it’s automatically worth a lot of money.  If you research your items on line, make sure that you know how to recognize the price an item actually sold for on eBay, versus the price someone tried to sell it for.  Starting prices don’t tell you anything about an item.

Be prepared to discuss your items with us.  This includes an offer from us that may be lower than your asking price.  This is called negotiation, and it is a part of the process when you sell items to the store.  We’ll be polite, respectful and realistic from our end.  It helps the process if the person with the items is too. 

Behaviors that don’t help the process:  rudeness, haggling, pressure tactics, threatening, and malicious behavior.  If you think you might want to sell to the store again, then remember that you need to be building a relationship with every visit.

Finally, be prepared for the “necessary” steps.  We will ask for identification.  We’ll also ask you to fill out a form that states the property is yours to sell.  These are kept on file.  We like to make sure that everything about our buying process is fair and above board.  Your cooperation in these matters will keep it that way.

No matter how the deal goes, please don’t take any offer from us personally.  It’s never a reflection on you as a customer or person or on your items if we decide not to buy.  It all goes back to those things we have to consider for the store.

You can call the store about selling items any time during regular business hours.  You can also bring items by, but calling before dropping by is strongly encouraged.  If you have large items or a lot of things, you can arrange for a house visit.   You can also email us, if you want to include photos.

Looking Through Time

I was looking through the YesterNook Facebook page recently, which is something everyone should be doing, when I saw this:

Cool, huh?  Well, it got me to thinking about something.  There are so many places, events, people, etc that have significance, but only on a local scale.  They'll never be preserved in great halls or museums for the whole world to see. 

In fact, sometimes the only place to find records amd artifacts of these kinds of places is in a store like YesterNook.  Every vintage store has a built-in nostalgia vibe, but YesterNook is the kind of place where some of the nostalgia takes on a personal note.

You can frequently find items in the various booths that relate to local (Louisville, Kentucky, and Southern Indiana) memories.  And not just the biggies like the Derby either.  I'm talking about church picnics, old downtown businesses, churches that have closed, that kind of thing.  Keep your eyes open next time you are in the store and see what jumps out at you.  You might be surprised.

You never know what you'll find here.  Sometimes, it's a piece of local history.

March News

We have a few bits of news to share with you all from the halls and booths of YesterNook.

First off, a couple of vendors are expanding their spaces!  That means that they'll be bringing more of the great items that you have grown to love and appreciate.  They can do this in part because of the love and support that you have shown for their booths, so pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

In Mayme's Ballroom, Carmine and Larry (Booth 511) now have spaces on both sides of the aisle.  Their original booth is right next to the Tiny Bookshop, and the new one is right across from it.  With this new space, they now have room to showcase some furniture and larger items.

Then there's Beth (Booth 524). She's in the room called Claude, which is at the end of the hall on the left.  She has gone from half the room to the whole room!  Look for the added space to give her room to bring in many more special items as well.

Finally, we added a really cool vendor in February and forgot to make mention of it here.  Allow us to rectify that and tell you that Laurel in Booth 9 has a wonderful assortment of things.  Laurel has been at Sparrow for many years, and was a regular YesterNook shopper from day one.  She also has her own shop in Wisconsin.  She has a lot of experience and knowledge and uses it to bring you some of the best items.  Check her booth out.

Marching Forward

It may have been hard to tell over the weekend, but we have moved into the month of March.  Imagine that.  The third month of 2013 is upon us.  Where does the time go?  Everybody knows the beginning of March can only mean one thing.

No, I’m not talking about basketball tournaments.  It means the official start of spring is only a few days away!  A few whirly snowflakes here and there notwithstanding, signs of spring are starting to emerge.  It’s getting light a little earlier and dark a little later, for one.  The daffodils in my backyard have come up, although I think that swirly snow must have surely confused the dickens out of them.

Basketball and equinoxes aside, March is packed with events this year.  Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up in just a couple of weeks.  If you’re looking to decorate for your party, there are just about always a few pieces of green glass scattered here and there through the various booths at YesterNook. 

Easter is coming early this year, falling on March 31.  That makes it a just barely a March event, but “barely” certainly counts!  There are always lots of high-quality, unique baskets in the store, if you want to try something different this year.  You’ll probably find a few eggs and bunnies around, too.  Don’t forget to look at some of the vintage hats and purses when thinking about your Easter outfit.  Who knows what you’ll find?  Remember our selection changes every day.

For many, Easter is primarily a spiritual celebration.  Did you know that we have a few vendors who regularly carry vintage religious items?  Rosaries, devotionals, crucifixes, Last Supper scenes, Madonnas, Pieta scenes, prayer books, Bibles, hymnals, holy cards and other assorted religious articles can be found throughout the store.  If you’re looking for a booth that carries some of these items, ask at the register.

Part of the excitement of spring comes from being able to spend more time outside again, after being cooped up all winter.  Is your front yard, backyard, or deck ready?  Do they need some sprucing up?  Are you starting to plan your flower beds and other planting?  Be sure to check Godfrey’s Garage next time you come in.  There are already several items of patio furniture out there, and more are sure to come.  You might also find different kinds of pots, plant stands, and planters.  It’s not unheard of for us to have concrete figures for the yard from time to time!  Come in and see what we have that might spruce up your surroundings!

We’re glad that YesterNook was there to provide you with a pick-me-up through the winter.  We hope that we will continue to see all of you regularly during the spring as well.  We love it when our friends come to visit.  Remember that there are over 30 vendors in the store, and all of them bring in new items regularly.  That means the store changes practically from day to day!  Our hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.  Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for daily updates and photos of new merchandise!