The business of mother-and-daughter team Julie Dunn Brown and Paige Denier was bursting at the seams at its location off Florida Road. Their business, {re} Love, a furniture, arts and book consignment store, was located behind J.Bo’s Pizza and Rib Co.
Meanwhile, downtown Durango had a large retail gap that was proving tough to fill after the Polo Factory Store left the 5,500-square-foot building at 110 East Fifth St.
In May, that gap was filled and {re} Love’s space needs were met when Dunn Brown and Denier moved their business downtown.
One thing longtime Durango business entrepreneur Dunn Brown – Durangoans will remember her from her time operating the Steaming Bean from the early 2000s to 2009 – said she failed to realize when opening a furniture consignment store was the heavy lifting required for the constant rearranging of furniture on the floor when one piece sold and new pieces came in.
The added space has made rearranging pieces less troublesome.
“This is so much bigger,” Dunn Brown said, and the new location even offers some storage space.
Additionally, Denier said visibility has been an added bonus.
“We’ve added 600 consigners to our database since we moved,” she said.
The high number of vacation rentals and second homes in La Plata County led Dunn Brown to open a consignment store featuring furniture in 2014.
Her daughter’s profession as an interior decorator was another factor leading to creation of the business.
“I wanted to do a family business, a family venture, and I lured her back to Durango,” Dunn Brown said.
Against all warnings about family and friends not entering a business together, Dunn Brown and Denier both said the partnership has been smooth.
The business has proved ideal for Denier, who uses furniture from the store when staging houses on the market in her work with real estate agents.
“The great thing about Durango is that so many people have lived around the world – Indonesia, China, Mexico, Europe. It’s like a treasure-trove hunt every day here. It’s interesting every day to see what people bring in,” Dunn Brown said.
Prices vary at the store, with Dunn saying someone might find a $125 love seat one day and the next discover a $5,700 Stickley sofa.
The pair is fairly particular about the furniture they will accept for consignment, and Dunn Brown said people interested in offering consignments should email photos of their pieces to her to begin a conversation about whether the store will accept the items.
“We want gently used items that people loved and someone else can relove,” Dunn Brown said.
The store opens at 10 a.m., and most mornings, Dunn Brown said she and her daughter are out looking at furniture and making pickups and deliveries, which the store is capable of because the move also meant it gained access to a larger parking lot.
The pair will work with new consigners to establish a fair price for items. Pricing at the store offers gradual reductions.
If an item doesn’t sell in 15 days, its price is reduced 15 percent. If it hasn’t sold in 30 days, its price is again reduced 30 percent. If it hasn’t sold in 50 days, the price is reduced 50 percent.
Consigners and {re} Love split revenue 50-50.
If a piece hasn’t sold by the end of the contract, the pair will donate it to the La Plata County Humane Society if the consigner doesn’t want it back.
{re} Love also allows consigners to donate 80 percent of the proceeds from a sale to a nonprofit group of the consigner’s choice.
Artists that have items up for sale get 75 percent of the sale, with {re} Love taking a 25 percent cut. Artwork prices range anywhere from $5 to $4,000.
The new space also came with lots of shelving, and that allowed the pair to partner with Denny Rahilly of Second Story Used Books to fill them.
The relentless march of technology has also hit consignment stores – and really for the better – Dunn Brown said.
The store is able to track its 1,200 consigners, and the consigners are able to check on their pieces.
The system can direct deposits to consigners whose items have sold or checks go out regularly on the 15th of the month.
Now, Dunn Brown is on the hunt for more muscle to help her move furniture around.
Her husband, Charlie Brown, will remain, but her son, Cole Korte, has graduated from Fort Lewis College. So, she is in the hunt for someone to help pick up, unload and move heavy pieces.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
