FAQ

If I was to create a "FAQ" section for Vinterest Antiques, I think one of our top 5 questions that I get asked, right after "How much are booths here?" "How do I get on the waiting list?," "Where did you move the dog food?" and "How did y'all come up with this idea?" (just about all answered on our Website)....is "where do you guys find all this stuff?"  

My answer is always, "everywhere."

It's not uncommon for hard core "pickers" to circle once or twice by a dumpster or purposely take a side road the night before trash pick-up seeking inventory.  I once found the most amazing pair of 8' tall wooden doors sitting by our neighborhood Outback restaurant that I flipped for a quick $200.

Many of us vehemently troll Craigslist day and night, are members of several Facebook yard sale sites,  are "friends" with estate sales planners, and sit hours (and I mean countless H-O-U-R-S) several times a week at a local auction often competing with our friends for that special treasure- sometimes to only leave empty handed. 

We often travel far out into God's country to shop places we refer as "honey holes" that look condemned just to sort through piles of dust and filth to find that "item."

The Mr. and I have taken a shovel, a BB gun and gloves to venture out into the woods to an old trash pile, climbing under barbwire fences, watching intensely for snakes, to dig through compost for old glass milk and medicine bottles.  (If you have one of these old trash piles buried on your property- call us!  We're game!) 

We often stalk "newbie" pickers who price way too low in order to find our inventory.  We know how to power walk to a yard-sale and our children (and my step-son) knows to buckle up, no questions asked, when it's game-on, yard-sale time.  Countless times, I've dug in the middle of the night by flashlight in storage units.

It's not always glamorous.

I cannot tell you how many times in my lifetime I've just about pee'd on myself by sticking my hand into a box filled with cast-away junk, digging to find a hidden treasure, only to scare the be-jesus out of myself by pulling up something completely unexpected, such as an old fishing-lure worm.  

Once, up in the mountains, I got chased off a man's front porch when I bravely entered through the gate into his fenced front yard, knocking on his front door uninvited on a Saturday morning to beg him to sell me the old vintage metal glider that was rusting away in his front yard, and sitting right beside a toilette bowl.  

"Hi!," I say in my sweetest voice while the Mr. sits in the running truck, "I was hoping you may be interested in selling me your glider."

Without hesitation he says in his not so sweet voice, "Nope!!," then the door was slammed in my face. 

"But, I'll give you $100!!!!" 

Door opens and then the dog is let out, as I quickly make an exit.  Oops.  The signs were all there, but that GLIDER.  I MUST SAVE THE GLIDER!!!  (I have not given up hope!)

Pickin' is sometimes a test of your faith.  It's sometimes a matter of how far are you willing to go??

On a recent picking trip from Chattanooga to Texas, the Mr. and I decided to go rouge and pull off the main road and drive some side roads seeking yard sales.  We found ourself in a little neighborhood,  chasing down a yard-sale trail in a neighborhood with houses 1,000 sq. ft. or less.  When we finally found the yard sale, we were met with a little sign that read, "Yard sale behind house,  located inside."  Maybe it was Texas, but without even saying a word to each other, nearly synchronized, we pulled out our holstered pistols from out of the glovebox and under the seat and discreetly concealed them under our shirts before walking inside.  Once in, we found ourself in a small kitchen with 2 seemingly sweet ladies who did not speak English and a baby  to find 1 folding table of used plastic food containers.  After first a good laugh, we were off to the next one. 

I have not met a yard-sale yet that scared me off.

Oh, but that moment....that glorious moment where you dig through rubbish to find underneath a pile of old encyclopedias and VHS tapes, to uncover in its glory that precious Pyrex bowl.  "How much for this?," you say in your most calm voice possible through the junk-drunk shakes, and then the owner tells you that you can have it for $1.  "Score!!!!"  Those are the moments that I LIVE for. 

The picking.... the true picking.  That's my drug of choice!

I must say NO to good ideas.

With the recent deterioration of my mother, I am committed to drive every Monday night from Chattanooga to Hendersonville, Tenn., so that I can spend all day Tuesday with her.  I am so thankful to be in a position with Vinterest Antiques to do so.  This time with her has become precious.

It takes approximately 2 1/2 hours from doorstep to doorstep, one-way, and typically a lot longer as I have a few "pickin'" spots that I like to hit along the way.

Apart from the obvious and very personal reasons Monday nights and Tuesdays are important, the drive time alone in the car has also become extremely valuable and is quickly becoming an intricate part of Vinterest's business-growth model and strategy.  This quiet time gives me a moment away from distractions, including distractions that I cause myself, so that I can reflect, strategize and simply re-focus. 

I think one of the most difficult things to do when trying to execute any type of "business plan" is learning to deal with all the distractions that cause us to take our eyes off the main purpose and vision.  So, with that being said, one thing that the Mr. and I have to constantly challenge each other on is on our abilities to say "no."

(As a side note: he has gotten really good at telling me no and I think has reached "expert level." I, on the other hand, have not mastered the art.  For example, I would have a complete FARM, complete with chickens, pot-belly pigs and lots of goats in my backyard if I could.  Why should it matter that I live in a subdivision!?  That's the real reason for tall privacy fences, right?! To keep the neighbors out?? ha!)

Anyways, there are countless business-type blogs, articles, webinars, business books, videos, conferences, (you name it,) on the simple art of utilizing the two-letter word, "no."  All because we, as a society, are terrible at it.  Yet, failure of the ability to say "no" poses great risk to a business's success.  

Alas! If that isn't painful enough, in executing "saying no" effectively, it typically returns very little immediate reward and/or satisfaction.  It can cause conflict and hurt feelings with people.  And, quite frankly, our "flesh" hates saying "no" and especially being told "no."

So, let me be real with you and "very classy" for a moment (tongue in cheek) and say how I really feel:

Saying "no" sucks.

Ugh, but I know if we are to take Vinterest Antiques's future from "good" to "great," I must get over this. Like, quickly. And, guess what..... Unless you are like my husband, you probably do too.

Here's the problem: the Mr. and I, between us, have had probably 1,000 good ideas about our future and Vinterest; however,  it would be very difficult to execute every good idea that pops up, and even if we tried, it is nearly statistically impossible to execute every idea very well.

These ideas can range from what product lines to carry, what vendors to bring onboard, who to conduct business with, how much labor to spend, how much to invest in advertising and with who, where and how,  all the way down to the smallest details of what we should sell on our front register counter and what candle to burn in the restroom.  Then, there is complex ideas such as long-term strategy and growth.  Add on top of this aforementioned problem, there are 1,000 more good ideas and suggestions that we've received from people, who all have good intentions, that we must carefully evaluate and not grow distracted by.

In the end, I have learned that all decisions have to be made with 2 things in mind:  ROI (return on investment) regarding how and on what we spend our money AND our time and 2) is this getting us closer to where we want to be, achieve and be known for?!

5 hours of alone time in the car per week may not be enough.

Anyways, with all that being said,  in our worlds that we live in, whether you are a business owner like me, the President of the United States or the CEO of your family, the problem is definitely not us being short of having good ideas.

What the problem is, however, is having the ability to be able to be self controlled enough to say "no" to a good idea, so we can get focused back on and have enough energy and resources to say "yes" to a great one, so as to be able to execute the hell out of it!

So, tonight, for those who are "yes" people,  I leave you with a link to one of the greatest examples I can think of that whose success was partly made by his ability to say no, Mr. Steve Jobs.   And I leave you with this question: when's the last time you said "NO" to a good idea?

http://www.centerforworklife.com/the-leadership-qualities-of-steve-jobs/

Taylor Swift says "Shake it off!"

So, I am having an absolute blast at Vinterest Antiques now that the "kinks" are getting ironed out, booths are fully rented, and customers are giving me some peace of mind that they will actually show up! ha!  (Seriously, there were days during the construction phase that I was freaking out, scared out of my mind that people wouldn't know about us, much less come out and shop.) Tomorrow marks 1 week of being open.  Yay! And come shop with us, you did!!!

At night, I like to reflect and think about all the things we've had thrown at us since starting this venture.  In fact, just in the past 30 days, we've battled the flu x2, a series of sinus infections, a leak in the ceiling, a rusted fire exit/panic door stuck to the floor that was dead bolted shut (now fixed,) and our home's heater stop working (due to my puppy, Jake, getting under the house through a crawl space and eating the duct work.  Yes, that really happened.)

That's the short list, but I'm sure if I threw my "short list" in a pile with your "short list," I'd probably want mine back.  So, I'm very thankful that's all we've experienced thus far.

Alas! Since coming to Hixson, there hasn't been any shortage of drama, but fortunately NOT on "our side of the river."  There's been some accidental insults (I think the Lord wants me to give benefit of the doubt) with people who don't know us, and there's been funny situations where people don't realize Paul and I are the owners.  I'm not sure who they are expecting, but for some of the folks who don't read our blog or follow us on FB, it's not us.  I also don't think people expect to find us running the cash register or hauling furniture.  Or maybe it's the purple hair?!  Who knows.  It makes me smile.

[As a side note, for those NOT in the Chattanooga area, the "river" is a very big deal.  Like huge deal!  I didn't really realize how huge until a lady made it very clear to me that she "never" crosses the river for anyone or anything, but she did just to see what all the fuss was about.  You see, there is a bridge over a dam that must be crossed to get to us from Chattanooga/Knoxville.  I haven't quite pieced it all together as to why that's a big deal, so if someone would like to enlighten me, please do.  But for now, let's leave it as a huge deal and we are very thankful to those who have "crossed" the river for us!  ("Crossing the river," by the way, has given us a GREAT t-shirt idea!!  So stay tuned.)]

Anyways, I will admit,  in my exhaustion, there have been days that I've had to "check" myself and my attitude a couple of times, such as the time a lady said, "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have" when discussing renting a booth with me, and she didn't agree with some of our policies.  "Swallow. My. Pride, and grin and nod, Katherine.  Grin and nod," I have to remind myself.

As another example, Day 2 of being opened, I had a sweet Veteran go a little crazy on me due to how an American flag was displayed in our store (hung, not touching floor, nor no rips/tears) which left me a tad bit dazed and confused, and all I could think to say was, "thank you for your service."  Oh, and I heard a rumor "allegedly" started by another business owner that, while we were in the process of renting out booths, that I "snuck" into this person's antique store and snapped a "photo" of a "top secret" clipboard that had all their vendors phone numbers as to "steal" them.

We also had a totally different situation where we were told by a reliable source that another store (in a different state) was trying to get ahold of us because they wanted to plug in and sell with us and advertise, so the Mr. immediately called them as soon as we were told.  He spoke to one of the owners (excitedly, because this partnership would be HUGE and very powerful,) and the owner bashed us and called us just about everything but a white person before hanging up. Oops!  (And, I LOVE this store!!!)

This, I kid you not, is our life.  I cannot make this stuff up, but I am so thankful because it sure does make for some funny stories around the kitchen table!

"Shake it off," says Taylor Swift, so "shake it off" I will!!

That's the crazy .001% part of this venture that would make for some pretty entertaining reality TV I do believe (HGTV- call me!)

The other 99.999% part of our experience thus far has been truly joyous and has God's hands all in what we are trying to accomplish.  We are surrounded with some of the most giving, supportive vendors and customers. Every day, it is a complete joy to wake up and "go to work."

So tonight, I want to thank you for "crossing the river" and visiting with our little Vinterest Antiques family.

I hope when you come to Vinterest, you leave with a smile!










 

 

Why shop "small"

The Mr. and I literally entered last night into what I think may have been a slight coma post our initial grand opening. Leading up to the morning, I worried and played out in my mind just about every bad scenario that could happen.  Luckily, the only thing that I noticed that came close to "bad" happening was that the manager from Steak N Shake (our neighbor) was upset because we ran out of parking spots and people used their back parking lot.  I'll take that "problem" any day!! ha!  (For the record, we buy something from Steak N Shake nearly daily.  Seriously.  I think they may have accidentally "forgotten" about that on Jan. 3rd.....But I digress.....)

The day was a HUGE success.   Everything went smooth like butter, and we had the best people possible surrounding us.

I often post on Facebook to "shop small" or "buy local," and  I just assume that people "get" why that's so important.  You know what assuming does, right???  So, I want to break it down and perhaps give someone a new perspective.  This is also why I don't mind the long hours and perhaps why I think about our responsibility at Vinterest Antiques as my "ministry."

When you shop stores and places like Vinterest Antiques in Hixson, Tenn.,  University Pickers in Huntsville, Ala., Chatt-R-Bug in Chattanooga, Tenn., or Marietta Antique Mall in Marietta, Ga., let me explain what you are actually doing...

Stores like these (and there are 1,000's more throughout and I'm sure one in your city) give folks (your neighbors) from all different walks of life a place to make some money.  When shopping small, think about Kate who is a mother of twins who makes and sells beautiful jewelry so she can bring in extra income; think of Jennifer, a single mom of two little girls, who lives in a small apartment, works full time at a highly demanding job, and then comes home to paint her furniture at night in order to provide a better life for her girls; think about Karen, a 67 year old grandmother, who also lives on the 3rd story of an apartment, who spent over 30 years working at the post office and is now retired, who lugs up 3 flights of stairs cast-away furniture that she reupholsters and brings back to life to supplement her retirement. Those are just some reasons to shop small business.

For some, selling at a place like ours is actually NOT about the money at all.  For some, its a way to bring families together, like the brother/sister who have a booth together, whose relationship is rekindling after the loss of their father.  Think also about the mother and adult son who now create beautiful pieces of furniture together and for once, have "something" to really talk and get excited about.  It about makes me cry when I think about my own family, and how it's brought my father and I closer as I text him "Pinterest" photos, and he figures out how to make it happen, then I get to help him sell it. 

For others, this "venture" is a way to nurture their creativity and gives them a stress-reducing outlet. So when you buy from a small business, think also about how you could be buying from a preacher who prays for and listens to "other people's" problems all day long, and this gives him an outlet so he can have time to relax his mind and enjoy some quiet time alone while rejuvenating his spirit through reviving furniture rejects; think about the Dr. who hears complaining all day long or the "IT Manager" who stares at a computer screen for 9 hours a day.  When you buy from these folks, you are literally filling their life with joy and purpose.

This are just "some" of the reasons that I encourage you to consider buying from small business when you can.  I think this picture floating around sums it up perfectly:

 I would love to hear from you!  Why do you think it's important to buy from small business??