We love our customers and they love us back!

We love our customers and strive to put our heart into making Renewed Expressions a place where women love to shop so it always makes us feel good inside to know that we are succeeding in our mission. Recently one of our wonderful customers, Mindi Wilhelm, came into the store for the first time since we switched to clothing and she took the time to write about her experience. Thank you so much, Mindi!

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Recently, Abby and I drove to Meridian to check out a consignment store that has been around for years, Renewed Expressions. I don’t usually drive to Meridian for anything since I live in Boise, and most of Meridian is the new revised version of whatever is in Boise. However, since no one has managed to franchise women’s consignment clothing stores, we decided to take the time to check out R.E., 1835 W. Cherry Lane.

Most women’s consignment stores cater to the under 30 crowd. Good examples of this in Boise are the Lux and the Repeat Boutique. I visited R.E. many years ago when it first opened because I know Kathy Reitz, the owner, and we were looking for furniture for our new business. Back then, I seem to remember that it was all about furniture. However, Abby’s voice teacher, Deanna Pond, kept telling us about the great deals that she was getting on clothes and shoes at R.E.

Deanna recently completed her Master’s, and is under consideration for a national award for her thesis. She is not under 30, and she dresses business casual. She likes clean lines and classy things, but what she appreciated most about R.E. is their selection of adult woman sizes, their quality labels and brands. She told us, “I don’t feel bad about paying $20 for a high end label dress. They are always in great shape.” She also told us that she likes, “to just go there and look because their taste is really fine.” The clincher: “They have fun jewelry. They really do.”

This was enough to get us to drive all the way to Meridian.

For those who think used clothing stores smell and look like Saver’s, be prepared for something entirely different. R.E. is clean, well-lit, thoughtfully decorated, clearly organized, and it has friendly, helpful sales people. The roomy curtained dressing rooms and the professional displays almost made us forget that everything was second hand, but the prices reminded us. This store seems to merit a different designation than consignment; it is more like a gently-used boutique.

Abby loves to shop, and I do not. If I were rich, I would pay Abby to do my clothes shopping for me. Soon after we entered the store, Abby scolded me for hurrying through and not truly ‘experiencing’ R.E. I do not believe that she missed a single rack, counter, shelf or display. Women who like to shop like Abby should schedule at least 90 minutes for their initial visit. To me, shopping is more like The Hunt. Find it, try it on, stand in front of the mirror, buy it and bag it. Done. Both of us really enjoyed the store, but for different reasons. In the end, it was all about finding what we were after.

Abby was drawn to the shoes because she sells shoes at the Mall, and she was impressed with the quality and selection. She chose a very attractive navy blue and white sundress, $10, and some white Steve Madden wedges, also for $10. According to Abby, the wedges are normally $80-90. I found a great deal on a size 14 black A-line skirt and a coordinating Worthington top for a total of $26. Deanna was right about the sizes and quality.

Before we left the store, we talked with Kathy about her upcoming events, including “Back to School” shopping (July 26), and “Fall Clothing Unveiling”(Sept. 13). I have to admit though, that even being a non-shopper that there is one event that I do not want to miss at R.E.: Super Bowl Sunday. Evidently, the store fills with women who are equally uninterested in the game, and Kathy provides hors d’oeuvres at various times throughout the day.

Like Borders, R.E. has an email registry for devoted shoppers to take advantage of special sales. However, just mentioning the sale will get the same discount as actually bringing in a printout of the ad. I like that. Why doesn’t Borders do that?

For more info check out their website: http://www.renewedexpressions.com/

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

I cannot believe how fast summer is flying by!

With all the barbeques, camping and family fun that fills the summer, isn't it amazing how quickly the time passes!? It is already the middle of July, with August and back to school just around the corner! Before you know it the weather will be getting cooler and it will be time to pack away the summer clothes until next year.

Speaking of which, if you have some summer items you’ve been thinking about bringing in, please call us to set up an appointment as soon as you can (208.855.2800). Renewed Expressions will only be carrying summer clothes until September 15th. We are going to have a 50% off summer blow out sale beginning September 5th, and running until September 12th. Then we’ll bring out all of our wonderful fall consignments. So the sooner you get your summer items into us, the longer they will have to run at full price!

Join us Sunday, July 26th from 12-5, for our Back to School Preview. We are not usually open on Sunday, but will be for this special event.

Now Selling Accessories for You and Your Home!

About this time every year, I head off to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops Annual Conference. This year it was in Phoenix. WHOA! It was hot!! But in spite of the heat I had a great time. It’s always great to get away and bounce ideas around with other people doing the same thing that I do. I always come back super energized and full of great ideas for the store (plus a suitcase full of super cute jewelry that should be priced and in the store soon!!)

This year I came back with the idea to reintroduce home goods at the store. In case you didn’t know, Renewed Expressions got its start as a furniture consignment store. We had a great time with the furniture but after about a year of pushing large furniture around by ourselves we decided that clothing might be more our pace. We are so glad we did because we’ve had so much fun with it! But we’ve missed having our fun home accessories around and this conference reinforced the idea that we should bring them back. So we are but we won’t be doing them on consignment. Instead we’ll be buying them outright.

I bet this has got you thinking about some things you have tucked away in the closet! Perhaps you’ve recently redecorated a room and don’t have the room or desire to store away those items well, we’d love to have a look at them. Especially if they have a Pottery Barn, Pier One or Anthropologie feel to them. Please send a photo of your item(s) to renewedexpressions(at)gmail(dot)com and we’ll let you know if it is something we’re interested in.

We can’t wait to see the treasures that you have hidden away just waiting to earn you a little extra spending money!