The Place Where the Owner and Items are Gems

Nadine on the left, Kim on the right 

As I walked into The Golden Hanger at noon on Monday, a customer was trying on a vintage veil that went on for days. The bride to be looked gorgeous in her new vintage veil. The Golden Hanger is a consignment shop in Beverly, MA that has been around since June of 1998 with its fabulous owner, Kim. As I introduced myself to Kim, she greeted me with such a warm welcome; a hug. I had never met someone so approachable in my life. Before opening this consignment store, Kim worked for Neiman Marcus. Since she still keeps in touch with her Neiman Marcus friends, they will give her clothing items to consign that aren't selling in the fancy department store. What a deal for the customers! She works with a smile on her face and absolutely is passionate with what she does. It was great to hear what Kim had to say. 

Did you draw inspiration from anything when opening the shop?

Kim: Pretty much I’ve been a consignment shopper forever. When I worked in Boston I used to go to the consignment shops on Newbury street. It was really awesome when North Shore Magazine and Yankee Magazine did write ups on us and they were referring to us as Nebury Street North. Isnt that Awesome?! 

Oh my gosh that really is! The shop seems to be quiet right now, what is business usually like? 

Kim: We are open six days a week and its busy year round. We have prom gowns, wedding gowns for this particular season. We do a huge ugly Christmas sweater business. OH MY GOSH. I have pictures. I think every single Football player from Endicott College – all the guys came in here, I took pictures of them, I didn’t post those on facebook because the guys were a little bit shy but that’s a huge time of year for us too. Between swimwear, bridal, the prom season, and in the winter we do fur coats, boots, lots of things like that. But I would say our designer handbags are probably the biggest draw for us, that knows no season. That’s 365 days a year women are looking for the great handbag.

That is so true. Is there a typical age group that brings in items to consign? 

Kim: : I have teenagers bringing me their jeans from Abercombie and I have Grandmothers bringing the Grandmother of the grooms dress. And everything in between. My oldest consigner, I went to her 100^th birthday party [laughing]. The nice thing about our regular customers is that they tell their friends about us.

Is their a certain style you associate the shop with?

Kim: Oh Gosh That’s a good one. Its kind of eclectic you know? I think this is a store of a revolving door of fashion. If it's not vintage or retro -- like the Downton Abbey parties are so popular right. So people are coming in and looking for vintage and retro pieces. And then there’s another demographic that wants what’s currently in the mall stores right now. They want things super current but don’t want to pay the mall prices. Then we have the basic taylor classic stuff too that’s timeless that and goes out of style.

Are there any kinds of challenges that occur in the store?

Kim: The biggest challenge for me is that we have three thousand consigners. And I take in probably 75-100 items per day. And when women call me “Hi I cleaned out my closet this weekend. Can I come in this week and bring my things?” And were booked probably 4-6 weeks out for an appointment.

One of the other biggest challenges for me is keeping things in season and we have more people calling then I can accommodate in the course of a day. It’s a catch 22 because we have a really good reputation and we’ve been here the longest and everyone wants to bring their things here. So of course I do recommend other consignment boutiques to give them an opportunity to get their things. But a lot of people will wait because they don’t want to because they want to bring their things here and its really sweet but yeah I would say that’s one of my biggest challenges; being able to accommodate everybody.

I can understand that, it must be very difficult. Is there something different that you sell compared to other consignment shops? 

Kim:  I think I’m one of the only consignment boutiques that takes in precious jewelry. I’m a gemologist and when I worked for Neiman Marcus I sold precious jewelry for them so that’s really my comfort level. We do have the fun and funky fashion jewelry but we also have the nice sterling silver precious and semi precious stone. Someone may bring me their diamond ring, we’ve sold lots of tiffany jewlry; really high end. And theres very few consignment boutiques that will take in precious jewelry.

Is there a specific reason for that?

Kim: Because they just don’t have the knowledge about it. Whether they are taking in a real diamond or a fake diamond.

Oh, I see. That makes sense because you know your stuff when it comes to jewelry. What do you love most about owning your own consignment shop?

Kim: Oh my gosh there are so many things, I’m scrolling through my mind. I guess it’s the freedom to be creative and being able to interact with my customers are probably the two biggest things. And something too that is really important to me and part of the reason I opened the whole store was that we live in such a disposable society with people just throwing things away. So for me it was about reusing and recycling so when I opened the store, I started with everything in this store previously owned to give it a new life. All my fixtures, all my displays, all of my hangers, all my jewelry cases, everything was previously owned and loved. So I think it just gave the store that vibe of giving something a second chance.