The Thrill of Cabot Street

Walking down Cabot Street in Beverly, MA is a unique experience. From the old fashion movie theater, plethora of bakeries, and up and coming businesses, to the corner coffee shops, there’s always something new to discover. But almost at the near end of Cabot Street, here lies Plum Consignment. Upon entering Plum Consignment, I was immediately struck by how different this shop was. The outside was modern with a chic logo, which later I found out was designed by the owner’s husband. The sign consisted of an all capital three-dimensional font with “PLUM” in big black letters, as the word consignment wrapped around the U and the M in banner form. The type used is just right for this shop.

The second I walked into Plum Consignment, there was something different about this consignment store. As I stand directly in the front of the store I have the best view. My eyes begin at the handbags draped in front of me in the middle of the shop, with designer labels to no names; you could tell they were all placed perfectly. The whole atmosphere to the boutique like shop is so pleasing to the eye. Parts of the walls were covered in lavender paint, as the other part was a brick wall, this design spread cohesively throughout the shop. Along the walls of the store are the clothing racks, to my left there were dresses and outerwear and to my right were skirts and bottoms. The customers in the store trying on items were smiling wide. The two women were so excited to find a beautiful dress at such a low price, they looked like they were in love. The decorations around the store consisted of a shelf wrapping around the walls with antique items. There was an old fashion clock that sat on the shelf, as well as a tin watering can and antique vases. To top it off, the racks of clothing hung on pipe racks. This gave a modern yet rustic feel to the store that makes you appreciate all the work that went into it.

The shoes. From heels to flats to lace ups, it was paradise. The racks of clothing were in tip-top shape, and the sales associates were fashionably dressed. More interestingly, there was no whiff of that classic musty thrift store smell. When applying quick observation, all of the items looked current and in style. There were no lipstick-stained blouses or ripped clothing, it all felt new. Pam Hulbert, the owner of this shop invited me into the back room to talk.

Pam was not what I expected. She had no wrinkles, no gray hairs, and no crazy eye makeup. She is a young and successful woman. She had beautiful blonde wavy locks of hair and she exuded confidence. The moment I saw her I could tell she had a fresh and fashionable style. This woman has passion. She followed her dream in opening her own consignment shop. As we walked to the back of the store, we set up the interview in the back room. This could have been a little piece of heaven. It was a consignment shoppers dream. There were piles on piles of clothes that had just been dropped off. Customers don’t always realize the hard and mundane tasks that have to be performed before the items go out onto the shelves. The behind the scenes work is so important in this business, from the tagging of items to deciding what will go in the shop, it can be a long process, and Pam informs me of this. She has worked so hard to have this store up and running. It took months after leaving her old job in January of 2012 to pull off this amazing shop. Once she signed the lease her, ideas flourished into bigger and better things everyday. All of her hard work has certainly paid off. Her business is booming and she couldn’t ask for anything better.  

Pam spent her childhood in the quaint town of Guilford, CT, where she attended Guilford High School. Pam has been thrift shopping since high school. That is where her passion of consignment all began; she then volunteered at a consignment store in her hometown called Hole in the Wall, which benefited her high schools ABC House program. She then attended Endicott College for graphic design, and graduated in 2002. Right after graduation, she worked at a small advertising agency in Salem, MA. With her background in graphic design and her work experience in previous retail stores, she had the perfect combination of work experience to open her store. Pam loves a good bargain and the way she spoke about her passions made it all the more intriguing, “Its like the thrill of the hunts. What can I find for a bargain?” The shop has its own individual style and Pam puts a lot of her own style into it as well. She spends a big portion of her time at the shop figuring out what items will work throughout her store and what will sell to the certain demographic the store appeals too which is young women ranging from college age to 35.

Some of her inspiration for the layout of the shop was from stores like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. She strongly states she did not want the typical metal rack that you see at Savers. Pam has succeeded in making her shop look distinct between all the other second hand stores that line on Cabot Street. She knew exactly how she wanted to do it, and she did it. This is the first shop she has ever owned and she is really doing quite well for herself. Pam has had help from her loving husband with the logo for the store and help with the design of the store.

           
Pam laughs when she explains how much she loves getting the first peek at the clothing individuals consign with her. “I’ll sometimes stay 15 minutes later and try on a couple things, and then Ill bring them home and my husbands like ‘really?’ [laughs]. But I have been good I haven’t bought too much but I definitely see some things where I’m like ‘hmm…I think that would be nice’ [laughs]. It is fun to have the first look."

Q. What were your reasons for opening the store?

A. All my life I’ve shopped at consignment shops and loved doing it but hated-I don’t want to say hated-but disliked the way some of them were set up. A lot of them were typically smelly and kind of just a mish mush of stuff so I kind of wanted to create a boutique feel but still have those thrift store/consignment store prices.

Q. Where did you draw inspiration from when opening the store?

A. Everywhere really. I did a lot of research, playing around on Pinterest and making notes when going into other stores, writing what I liked and what I didn’t like. I looked at places like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, and stuff like that just to get ideas for displays. I didn’t want the typical metal rack that you see at Savers. I wanted it to be a little bit different from everywhere else. I guess, class it up a bit. Ya know? [Laughs].

Q: Why did you decide to open a consignment store in Beverly?

A: I looked at other locations but after looking at those other locations I felt that even though there’s other shops on Cabot Street mine was going to be different. Each of the shops has their own style and their own type of cliental so I didn’t think I was stepping on any toes by doing that. I wasn’t exactly the same as someone else. So, it ended up being a really great location.

Q. What do you like most about having your location in Beverly?

A. I think the amount of foot traffic I get is more than I could have hoped for. It’s easy to park, there’s parking in front, parking a little bit down the street, it’s just a good location. I was a little nervous about being at this end of Cabot because the hustle and bustle seems to be down a little bit farther. It hasn’t been a problem. I get tons of foot traffic and lots of people drive by.

Q. How would you identify the style of the store?

      A.  Umm Probably a little bit younger. My demographic is college age to probably 35 year olds, and I don’t do corporate style items. We have clothing from J Crew, Banana Republic and stuff that people can wear to work, can wear out, and can wear to class. So, I try to stay away from corporate stuff. A little bit more casual.

Q. How would you describe a typical day in the shop?

A. A typical day – I’m here typically Monday through Thursday and I just hired two new girls and they will be here Fridays and Saturdays. So I’ll come in and I’ll price stuff while taking consignments. I do between 2 and 4 consignments a day, people bring in stuff and I’ll go through their items and then I’ll get to pricing and that day I’ll put the stuff on the racks, straightening up the shop, and ringing in sales. So it’s a lot to do. I never really have any down time, which the day goes by like that [snaps]. But between processing checks and gathering items and pricing and everything, it’s a pretty busy day.

Q. What are the types of challenges that occur in the store or in this kind of business?

A. I think the most challenging part is really sticking to your style because you get styles from all different ages and all sorts of people. So just sticking to your guns when you’re accepting items.  You don’t want to accept things that aren’t good for your store or aren’t going to sell. You want to have an image and stay with it and you certainly don’t want to turn people away but you have to let them know that there is a particular style to the store.

Q. Do you have a favorite second hand shop aside from your own?

A. Umm…favorite one…Oh I don’t know. I like them all [whispers]. I’m trying to think where I buy the most stuff. I’ve gotten a lot of stuff at the Garment district in Cambridge.

Q. Anything that you distinctly remember buying that was an awesome find?

A. I got an awesome retro print dress that was seven bucks. That had to be my best find.

I don’t know if I have a favorite one. I’ve bought stuff from all the shops on Cabot Street and I go to the ones in Salem too but I don’t know that I have a favorite. I go to them all as much as I can.

Q. What do you love most about owning your own consignment store?

A. I love that it’s mine. I love that everything I do and create is my idea. My husband certainly helps me out with it, with the logo, and helped me with the design of the store. Its nice to have a vision and be able to play it out exactly how you pictured it. So I think that’s the most fun part.

Q. What types of clothes do you not take when customers bring it in?

A. Anything that is stained, or ripped or out of style certainly. I’m not particular about designers, it can be from target or it can be from Coach, as long as it is cute and in style. We don’t do wedding dresses or bathing suits or athletic wear, things like that. As long as its currently in style and in good condition, I’ll usually take it and if it fits my demographic then I’ll usually take it.

Q. Did someone inspire you at all to shop consignment or someone’s style that you thought you could find at places like this?

A. Back to one of the other questions you asked about style, I think just a lot of the stores that I love the design of. I’d go into little boutiques in Boston and some of them had the pipe racks like I have, so I made mental notes of that but certainly more of the little boutique feels vs. big box stores.

Q. What are some of the amazing finds you have encountered in all your years of consignment shopping?

A.I think I get most excited about jeans, like when I find 200 dollar jeans for 20 or 30 dollars, that’s definitely my thing which is –when I opened this I said right from the beginning that all my designer jeans will be 30 bucks. Because, granted, some are close to 200 dollars in the stores but they are used jeans. I mean a lot of people have them selling for 75 dollars but I feel like I wanted my price point to be where people don’t really have to think about it, it’s a luxury but nothing extravagant. But I didn’t want people hemming and hawing if they couldn’t afford it or if they should buy it. So I felt like things like that, 30 bucks, is a good price.