30 years in Idaho

When Larry and I first moved to Idaho, I would have never believed that 30 years later I would be the proud owner of my own retail business a mere 2 miles away from our little starter home. And, yet, here I am, owner and manager of Renewed Expressions Consignment Boutique!

It’s been quite the journey to get here from there, that’s for sure. We were married in May of 1978 and moved to Idaho from Escondido, California in August of 1979. Larry was hired as a sixth grade teacher and I was hired at a small,local bank. Since that time we’ve lived in several different houses, raised and homeschooled our 3 (now married) children and experienced a few career changes –most recently, opening Renewed Expressions and Larry starting Sunset Signs and Graphics.

It has been 30 years full of ups and downs, as life tends to be, but we have been blessed to live here and experience this great community. We look forward to the next 30 and are thankful for our friends, family and customers. We wouldn't still be in business without you and we hope the experiences you have in our stores leave you feeling appreciated and valued.

Employee Spotlight

I feel truly blessed to have the most wonderful employees and I know that I can count on them to give you the best customer service so that your shopping experience is the best it can be. But there’s more to them than just the bright smiling faces that greet you when you come into Renewed Expressions, so every once in a while I’ll be sharing with a little more about them, starting with my first employee and long time friend, Monica Visser.

Monica has been with us since day one, when we opened our doors as a furniture consignment store and she was instrumental in helping us transition into clothing consignment. She is a delight to have at the store and is always willing to help our customers find that perfect outfit. Her warm smile and gentle demeanor keeps our customers asking where she is on her day off.

In addition to being great at helping our customers, it just so happens that she is one of our best customers! She always has her eye out for her favorite brands (Ann Taylor, Banana Republic & White House, Black Market) in neutral tones which highlight her lovely olive complexion.

She is married to her best friend, Brian and has two married children and two beautiful grandchildren. When not out hunting for treasures in resale shops, Monica loves to spend time gardening or hiking with friends and family. She also loves to read and cook and, as those who know her can attest, she is quite good at it, additionally, she is a fine hostess. She was happy to share a favorite recipe for Pumpkin Bread! Could it really be that fall will be arriving soon?

Pumpkin Bread: Makes 2 loaves

3 1/2 C. Unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Nutmeg
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2/3 C. Water
2 C. Canned Pumpkin
2 tsp. Baking Soda
4 Eggs
3 C. Sugar
1 C. Vegetable Oil
2 C. Chocolate Chips

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix thoroughly, and add chocolate chips. Pour into greased and floured, standard size bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours. The bread is done when toothpick comes out clean. This bread freezes well.

Thanks, Monica, for being a faithful friend and wonderful employee!

Funny Fashions Friday

We love so many of the trends that are out right now but we thought on Fridays it might be fun to show you some trends we might caution you to avoid.

Even if you have the legs of a super model, these shoes will make you look stumpy.

We know that cupcakes are huge right now but please don't go out looking like one!

It's true that ultra feminine retro dresses are in, but this one has WAY too much going on.

Please avoid wearing garments with the head of anything printed on it.

And finally if it has a cutesy kitty, hearts and a ball of yarn...run far far away.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Heels = Flip Flops of the Fall

Despite the heat, we've got fall on the mind around here. We are gearing up for our big fall makeover and clothing sneek peek and that got us thinking about fall shoes. Just like summer sandals a pretty heel can add just the right bit of snazz to a fall outfit without being too over the top.

Shoes are such a great way to experiment with colors, patterns and textures. Some people wouldn't feel comfortable wearing a bold red top but how about a red peep toe with a pair of black slacks?

For many women the classic Mary Jane is a favorite. Add a fun fresh color and a heel and you have a shoe that is classic and trendy!



It's always fun to experiment with different colors and textures. Soft pale turquoise combined with faux alligator is sophisticated yet unexpected!



Here's a roundy toe/pointy toe hybrid that would be pretty during the day or night!





Of course, there's always room for the go-to neutral colors like black and brown but how about grey? Especially with a twisty detail, a pair of heels like these could become a wardrobe staple.



Next time you are shoe shopping try on some shoes that are a little outside of your comfort zone. You might be surprised at what you find out you like!

The shoes from this post can be found at Zappos.com but don't forget that Renewed Expressions consigns many high end name brand shoes every day for much much less! See you soon!

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!