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Market warms to leftovers
October 5, 2011 by Al Harris
A new luxury consignment store is coming to Libbie and Patterson — for about a week.
Charlottesville-based Leftover Luxuries is returning to Richmond for the third time, showing that its pop-up business model is working well for owner Wendi Smith.
While working as an interior designer, Smith found she often had surplus furniture and decorations that she had no idea what to do with.
That is, until she came up her concept for a consignment shop that moves from city to city by opening in vacant retail spaces.
“I didn’t want to have a storefront,” Smith said.
Since starting in 2009, Smith has had consignment sales in eight states and averages about one sale a month. She said her goal is to have a sale in every state.
She had her first sale in Charlottesville.
“I had 20 girlfriends promise to consign something. I started with a 1,000 square feet and had the sale for two days. I was blown away with how it worked,” Smith said. “Four months later, I filled 4,600 square feet for another sale in Charlottesville.”
Leftover Luxuries will be open in Richmond from Oct. 14 to Oct. 23 at 5801 Patterson Ave., a 3,200-square-foot retail space previously occupied by an antique store. She is planning sales next year in Atlanta and Orange County, Calif.
The business works like this: People with items to sell register with Smith beforehand so she can approve the items. The seller sets prices, with Smith taking a standard 40 percent commission. Smith also charges a $25 registration fee for consigners.
“What makes it appealing to consigners is the way I put it together,” Smith said.
Smith puts her interior design skills to work and arranges all of the items, which include furniture, upholstery, light fixtures and designer clothes and accessories, to transform the vacant space into an appealing shopping environment.
The sale runs for 10 to 12 days. Consigners have two days to pick up any unsold items.
Smith said the business has done extremely well in the current economy, because even well-to-do consumers have become thriftier.
“Consumers save a huge amount of money and can get things for their homes that are like new for 30 to 40 percent off retail,” Smith said.
And there are plenty of sellers who are looking to unload expensive furnishings they might have bought when their wallets were fatter. Smith said many consigners end up becoming customers themselves.
“If someone buys a Gucci handbag and then they get tired of it, what do you do with something you spent $1,200 on? You sell it for $800, and then you can buy someone else’s Louis Vuitton bag.”
So far, Leftover Luxuries is a one-woman show.
“If there was 20 of me, I would be in so many other locations,” Smith said.
Smith hires a few temporary workers to help her with each sale, drawing from a network of friends and family members. Ultimately, she said she would like to scale the business by training those individuals to run their own sales in different markets.
“I won’t franchise. It takes a certain person to do this,” Smith said. “Someone who is very personable.”
October 5, 2011 by Al Harris
A new luxury consignment store is coming to Libbie and Patterson — for about a week.Smith said the business has done extremely well in the current economy, because even well-to-do consumers have become thriftier.
Trash? No, treasure 
In your closet, do you have a bunch of clothes with the tags still on? Wendi Smith feels your pain.
Smith, an interior designer by trade, runs Leftover Luxuries, a consignment event that takes your odds and ends and resells them. “I’d hear from clients, ‘I want a new sofa, but my husband won’t let me spend the money,’” she says. And so, Leftover Luxuries was born. Smith says her service is perfect for people who want to make some extra cash for things they don’t need, and for those who don’t want to pay store prices for stuff they do.Here’s how it works: You notify Smith, who comes to your home to approve the quality—not style, she says—of the goods you want to dump. If approved, you walk away with 60 percent of the profits. Smith will even coordinate movers.
You can expect to find everything from Prada shoes to slipper chairs. “It could be a beaten up coffee table or a fur,” Smith says, “but it might be a luxury to someone else.”—Caite White, Cville
Albemarle Antiques -
Custom painted footstools, having adjustable height feature, making them extremely cozy and versatile. Finished off in whimsical burlap upholstery. Put yer' feet up on 'em. Cheers
Pair of french-styled footstools, circa mid 20th Cent. . Finished in a deep rustic linen-white, having been freshly outfitted in a very dashing leopard print fabric. Prop your feet up and go crazy .
SOLD !!! .......at C'ville's first Leftover Luxuries sale. Wendi Smith of Leftover Luxuries is an incredible lady, a talented interior designer and a hell of an entrepreneur'. Link up with her great new business at leftoverluxuries.com
Smart Shopping
December 8, 2010
Getting a bargain on a budget is key this holiday season. For this week's segment of Sargent Solutions, CBS19's Tiffani Sargent explores how to spend less during this time of year. By negotiating, you may be able to bring down the price of an item. The price on the price tag is not always final.
"They can just say, no. It doesn't hurt to ask," explained Wendi Smith, owner of Leftover Luxuries.
Smith helps Charlottesville retailers and the public sell things that they no longer want or need.
She says there are some rules to negotiating prices. "I would definitely do your homework before you go shopping," explained Smith.
Research includes checking websites, newspapers and searching for coupons. You should also have a list of what you are looking for and where you are going.
Many items do not stay on the shelves for long. "Everybody is putting things on sale, they do not want to hold onto the product," added Smith.
Timing is also crucial. Customers should not be afraid to ask if a product will go on sale, they may get a better deal in a couple of days.
At consignment stores, items are marked and dated when they enter the store.
"As a consumer, you can look at the date and say, this has been here for seven months, maybe you want to get rid of it, can I offer you this much?" explained Jose Giron the owner of the Consignment House.
When it comes to appliances and furniture, you can often get a better deal on floor models. If you see any minor flaws, retailers will usually bring the price down.
BY COURTNEY CRANE DAUER
Date posted: 10/20/10 7:44 AM
You’ve heard the phrase, “your trash is my treasure," right? Well interior designer Wendi Smith, creator and operator of Leftover Luxuries, a high-end consignment event, shares a similar attitude. “One person’s leftovers are another person’s luxury,” Smith proclaims. She urges all design lovers to green up, recycle and, as she says, “revitalize” their homes by selling furnishings that are no longer wanted — and acquiring new, pre-owned, inspiring ones.
With sales held across eight states, including two in Virginia, Leftover Luxuries provides the perfect opportunity to buy high-end, designer-approved home goods at wonderful prices. Furniture, antiques, mirrors, paintings, lighting, rugs and other interior-design accessories are arranged boutique style for easy shopping. Designer clothes, shoes and handbags — most never used — will also be featured.
Shop the Richmond sale, for four days only, Friday, Oct. 22 to Monday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Richmond resident Kimberly Garrett of Monticello Designs will be consigning items at the sale. “I love to shop this way and to reuse good pieces,” Garrett says. “To find that one great table or side chair that can invigorate the design of a room is a great feeling. To find it at a great price is just icing on the cake." We agree.
To find out if Leftover Luxuries is coming to you, please contact wendi@leftoverluxuries.com
