by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
When it comes to turning a profit in the annual St. Joseph citywide garage sale, you could say Kelli Frieler knows a thing or two about selling.
The wife and stay-at-home mother of two was just one of many residents who participated in the three-day event sponsored by the St. Joseph Jaycees that began on May 19.
“One year, I made $1,500 – and that was just selling my stuff – nobody else’s,” Frieler said.
Seemingly overnight, garage sale signs popped up along Hwy. 75 in St. Joseph to direct motorists who were looking for bargains.
“I feel like we price our stuff pretty reasonable,” Frieler said. “People are looking for a good deal, but we give them a good deal.”
Amie Grove lives down the street from Frieler’s home near Fourth Avenue SE. Grove brought some clothes over to sell at Frieler’s garage sale, which seemed very popular.
“People are very interested in little kids’ clothes, toys, household items,” said Grove, a photographer, a wife and mother of two boys.
A $5 registration fee paid by those in the St. Joseph Jaycees-sponsored citywide garage sale helped cover the cost of advertising and marketing the group of sales in publications like the St. Joseph Newsleader.
“People just go from sale to sale to sale,” Grove said. “So it’s a great time to sell all your stuff.”
Cars lined the curbs of homes nearby, and a section was even roped off with yellow caution tape as children played in the yards and on the sidewalks of the picturesque neighborhood.
“We do this every year now in the citywide sale,” Grove said. “And it’s a big success because there are so many in the area.”
A list of garage sales was accessible through Google Docs. And this year, a link to a Google Map showing pins of all of the sales was provided that highlighted items of individual garage sales.
“Definitely a lot of it is kids outgrowing stuff,” Grove said of her items for sale. “And then for me, personally, my clothing items are just stuff I don’t wear anymore, and I don’t hang onto stuff, so I put it in the sale, and if it goes, that’s awesome.”
Frieler said she has been preparing for this year’s St. Joseph citywide garage sale since last year.
“This year was pretty easy,” Frieler said. “You get into a routine after doing it for so many years.”
Amie Grove checks out some of the items she had for sale at her neighbor’s garage sale near Fourth Avenue SE, part of the annual citywide garage sale, sponsored by the St. Joseph Jaycees and held May 19-21.
Kelli Frieler’s garage sale near Fourth Avenue SE was part of the annual citywide garage sale sponsored by the St. Joseph Jaycees, a three-day event that began May 19 this year, and was marketed online and advertised in the St. Joseph Newsleader.
Kelli Frieler makes a sale to a customer at her garage sale, which was part of a three-day citywide garage sale sponsored by the St. Joseph Jaycees that included a listing and mapping of garage sales by those who paid the $5 registration fee to help advertise or market the event.
Garage sale signs seemingly pop up overnight along Hwy. 75 in St. Joseph like the ones at this popular intersection near Kay’s Kitchen on College Avenue to direct motorists interested in the annual, three-day, citywide garage sale, sponsored by the St. Joseph Jaycees, and held May 19-21.
