Page 42 - the NOISE March 2015
P. 42

Businessnews
the art of resale:
ruBy road is Bona fide
story & photo by
clair anna rose
42 • MARCH 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
Bookshelves arranged in rows create nooks, cran- wasn’t working very well,” recalls Ms. Bridgnell. “It was just all my vendors getting their money.”
nies and displays that stretch on as far as the eye can see. while at first it feels overwhelming, Ruby Road Resale Mall owner Pamela Bridgnell assures me she has it arranged so I won’t get lost or miss anything, which is a major concern since the love for all things bric-a-bracs runs in my family.
Before our interview I weave my way through Ruby Road, moving slowly to let my eyes adjust and take in all the details. The 60+ vendors who have booths within Ruby Road clearly care about their spaces. “The vendors are really loving with their merchandise,” Ms. Bridgnell tells me. “I think it gives it an energy that attracts customers. That’s why it works. I love looking through all the booths, finding the treasures — they’re everywhere.”
each little “shop” is cleverly organized and arranged, themed and dust-free. If you never met any of the vendors, you would know something of them from the personal tastes and attention to detail on display. One booth is completely devoted to Christmas ornaments; another has a variety of old Polaroid and other vintage cameras. There is even a booth that seems to contain all the forgotten, once cherished items of my childhood — a polar bear holding a bottle of coca-cola, an Avon perfume bottle shaped like an antique school desk, and a 1980’s My Little Pony. The Barbie Booth features vintage dolls, neatly arranged & packaged Barbie clothes, shoes & accessories.
After exploring every part of the store, Ms. Bridgnell and myself make our way to the used furniture section of the store and find a table to sit at, where we talk about her life and experience as a small business owner.
Ms. Bridgnell grew up in Agora Hills, California and went to college in san Diego where she met her husband. They moved to Phoenix 30 years ago, where Ms. Bridgnell ran a commercial printing business, and next door opened a used furniture store. she took some time away from her work to focus on raising her family until her youngest moved out. It was then, 10 years ago, that she and her husband decided to move to Camp Verde, where they bought a house and Ms. Bridgnell fell in love with the town.
Ruby Road first opened in another location in 1995 in Camp Verde. “It turned into a tiger by the tail situation where it kept growing,” Ms. Bridgnell remembers.
“when I first started Ruby Road I had my own vision of it, but along the way my customers have shown me what they wanted and now we’ve adapted to what works. It’s been a constant evolution.”
Ruby Road began as a thrift store. Community members would donate their unwanted items, staff would sort through the donations to see what could be used, and then place them out on the floor to sell. “It
a bunch of junk in a building and some people bought it, some people didn’t. I rented out a few little booths to see what would work and customers loved it! we sold so much more out of the small areas of other people’s stuff so we just kept getting more and more booths, and the thrift store got smaller and smaller, until poof, one day it was gone. now it’s all booths and I manage the concept of everybody else’s stuff.”
Three years ago, Ruby Road moved to Howards Road, where it is located today.
Ms. Bridgnell shares some of the aspects she enjoys about her business. “There’s so many elements to it; it’s so much fun! It’s like Christmas every day — going through the stuff and trying to decide what’s good and what isn’t. I think it’s great we’re providing employment for people and that we’ve created a place in our little town where you can go and get almost anything.”
For Ms. Bridgnell, having a resale business is more than just running a business, it’s a part of who she is. “It’s something I’ve always done,” she reflects. “I’ve spent many years having estate sales and garage sales for friends. Before that, I had my furniture store, which was my stuff and consigned pieces. It’s been a part of me forever — dealing with used merchandise. we’ve furnished our houses with used furniture, our wardrobes are used clothes we’ve found and are fantastic.”
Having a business that deals in recycling merchandise is another reason Ms. Bridgnell loves what she does. “It seems like it’s the right way to go,” she expresses. “There’s such a good environmental reason for doing it: to keep stuff out of the landfills. The amount of effort that goes into bringing some imported thing from China into our country is enormous. The amount of wasted resources when we’ve already got it right here is unnecessary. To be able to keep it in the consumer flow is a good thing.”
Being “green” is very important to Ms. Bridgnell. Over the years she has streamlined the recycling system at Ruby Road to make sure that they are putting out the minimum amount of waste possible. “we have different recycling relationships set up,” she explains. “If it can’t go into the store, there’s very little that goes into the trash. we have a semi parked outside that takes all of our textiles. we have an electronics recycling company that comes by; they keep boxes outside that we fill with things we can’t sell. we have a metal and a cardboard recycler. we’re really serious about trying to keep as much as possible in the store, in the consumer stream or into the hands of somebody who can use it.”
Knowing that she has created a venue for local entrepreneurs to have their own mini shop is something Ms. Bridgnell feels is an accomplishment as a business owner.
“They’re all running their own little business,” she says. “All we’re doing is providing the space, the infrastructure, the check-out counter and the electricity. It’s exciting when I see
One store in Camp Verde is run by former Ruby Road vendors. “They moved out and opened a whole store, they got the bug so bad,” Ms. Bridgnell tells me. “we work together and we send customers back and forth. I’m proud of them for growing to that extent.”
In a rural community like Camp Verde where there aren’t a lot of jobs, being able to provide employment is something Ms. Bridgnell feels is a success. “It’s exciting for me to provide all the jobs that I do,” she shares.
“we’re keeping a lot of money right here in Camp Verde. A lot of people are sustaining their lives, paying their rent, buying their groceries, all because of their jobs here. we’ve got ten people working here and some of them have been with me since almost the beginning. My main core has been with me seven to eight years. They’re terrific and I couldn’t do it without them.”
we briefly discuss obstacles as a small business owner, and though there have been a few over the years, the successes outweigh them. Being resourceful and flexible is what brought Ruby Road through the recession. It was during that time the store transitioned into what it is today: a variety of vendors operating their own booths. “what convinced me to try it was that I was going to get some rent,” Ms. Bridgnell recollects.
“what convinced me to keep expanding it was that the customers loved it. I’m always looking at what’s selling and everything we do is one thing at a time. I really listen to our customers, try to figure out what they’re looking for, what they want, and then try to provide it. when we brought in the vendors it just changed everything.”
An obvious obstacle for Ms. Bridgnell is running a business in a small community. “we don’t have the demographic population to come in and spend enough money to sustain us,” she details. “we advertise far and wide. we use Craig’s List and that brings in people from all over the state. It’s crazy how good that works. we use social media and email to reach out to people further away. we do everything we can to reach out beyond our little core community to attract people. we need that to keep going.”
To upcoming entrepreneurs, Ms. Bridgnell advises, “surround yourself with really good people. I have a really good bookkeeper and I have a fantastic marketing team who does social media and are professional. Hire really good people who are going to stay — your employees are the absolute heartbeat of the business, no matter what
the business is.” RubyRoadResale.com, 928/567-5759.
| Clair anna Rose gets weak
kneed for catchy kitsch.
business@thenoise.us


































































































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