Easter on a Budget: Celebrate with Arc

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

Well, hey, it’s Mike Treem with Maggie Scivicque with Arc Thrift. Maggie, thanks for taking the time with us.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:06

Oh, thanks for letting me come on. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:08

In the midst of a busy week, you’re getting ready to open a store. You make time for us, so thank you. Tell us about that. You have a new store in Albuquerque, right?

SPEAKER 02 : 0:16

Yes, this is store number two in Albuquerque. It’ll be in Rio Rancho, which we’re very excited about this neighborhood. Should be really great donations, really great shopping, and we’re really looking forward to it. It’s a large store and should be just as popular as our first store in the Ladera Shopping Center of Albuquerque. This is A little over from there. And it’s called the neighborhood is called Rio Rancho.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:42

OK, super. And the fact they’re able to get now into into New Mexico is for, you know, tell the listeners kind of what the value is for that here in Colorado. Yeah.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:55

You know, Albuquerque especially is so much a sister city of Denver. They’re very similar, a lot of similarities. Many people are, you know, kind of have dual citizenship of Albuquerque and Denver. Many transplants to and from. And we didn’t really realize that until we got open down there and discovered how much connection many people would come and say, oh, I go visit my grandmother in Denver and I always love your stores or whatnot. So we get a lot of that feedback. And really, the first door did so well. Door number two came about and we just said, let’s go for it. So we’re scrambling a little bit to make that happen. But we couldn’t be more excited. The city is lovely. And Albuquerque is just such a fun and cool place. Great green chili. You know, the debate, the great debate is always on which is better, Denver, green chili or Albuquerque. But everyone would fight for their favorite green chili. Yeah.

SPEAKER 01 : 1:52

Albuquerque is a clean, pretty, it’s just a cool city. And it’s a natural for what you guys are doing, right? Yep. Tell us about, so March and early April, that’s kind of our timeframe where people are going to hear this and also the commercial spots. Tell us what we’re doing at Arc Thrift during those times.

SPEAKER 02 : 2:10

Yeah, you know, this weather, right, is just such a mystery to us. So that’s been really fascinating. You know, Easter’s right there on the horizon. Great place to find really great deals on Easter grass, baskets, bonnets, those, you know, cute little dresses for Sunday school. All of that stuff is definitely on our floors now gearing up for the big day for Easter Sunday. So always like to remind people that Easter, You know, Easter, you can do it on a budget. You can really get creative with your decor. You know, you’re having the whole family over. You need those, you know, deviled egg dishes. We’ve got them. So a really great way to decorate on a budget, do Easter baskets on a budget. And again, those pictures are the ones that, you know, we save for a lifetime, those little Sunday school dresses for Easter Sunday. So I always like to remind people of that. And then, of course, for us, the end of March is always, you know, our secret jean sale. That date is still up in the air. You’ll have to watch our socials for that, and you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and, of course, TikTok, and find out when that secret date is. It’ll be a Friday for sure, and that will be all jeans in the store, just two bucks.

SPEAKER 01 : 3:21

That’s sweet. That’s sweet. And even when they’re not $2, aren’t they a bargain?

SPEAKER 02 : 3:25

Oh, my gosh. They’re like $70 or $80 retail anymore, you know?

SPEAKER 01 : 3:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:31

So no matter what your thrift store find, even those higher-end brands, the 7 for All Mankind and Levi’s, all these really expensive brands can be found on our shelves. And the jean sale is special because we save for it. So there’s like rows and rows and rows.

SPEAKER 01 : 3:50

New stock. Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:52

And it’s from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. And if you have to work that day, come after work. Those, you know, from 5 to 9 is still an excellent time to shop. We will have new stock and keep it stocked. That’s our goal.

SPEAKER 01 : 4:04

Yeah, jeans look better when they’re a little worn anyway. So even if they’re gently used, you know, I have some jeans I probably should bring down. I have to think about that.

SPEAKER 02 : 4:13

Bring them down. That’s the hardest thing for us to keep in stock. People get a little frustrated with us, but men are different about their jeans. They keep them forever. They’re much harder for us to keep in stock. You know, the telltale sign of a really great thrift store is a really strong men’s department, and it’s hard to do. It’s a challenge for us. Men just keep their clothes longer. Unless their wives are totally on top of them to donate, they may not donate. So it’s always a challenge department for us, but we do our very best to keep it stocked.

SPEAKER 01 : 4:44

We’re speaking with Maggie with Arc Thrift. It’s arcthrift, A-R-C, thrift.com. And Maggie, yeah, I keep my jeans and my wife would just go, what are you wearing those for? Because they’re totally faded, but I’m just wearing them around the house.

SPEAKER 02 : 4:58

She’s taking them behind your back. You wait, you watch.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:00

She did. I rescued them from the Arc Thrift pile. I guarantee you. That’s incredible. I said, those aren’t going and they’re as faded as they come, but it’s just annoying my wife.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:10

They’re my favorite though.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:11

It’s great.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:11

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:12

And they’re very comfortable. So it’s just like, awesome.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:14

It’s a win. It’s a win.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:16

So Easter and spring, we’re starting to come into even nicer and warmer weather. And you don’t, you know, fun fact, our receptionist had this beautiful jacket on, kind of a jacket blouse kind of thing the other day. And it looks like it cost 300 bucks. She said, well, I get it. Okay. Right down the street.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:37

Thrifted. Oh, my favorite saying. Yeah, it was gorgeous.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:40

And she said she gets compliments all the time on that. This is a designer kind of, you know, again, kind of a designer jacket that she got her art thrift for a song and a dance.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:50

Yeah. There’s literally a surprise on every aisle. And like you said, with this warmer weather coming, everyone’s starting to donate. We’re seeing our tsunami come two months ahead of schedule. We call it our tsunami season, which is great for us because April is Earth Month for us. We do a lot of fun things the entire month of April leading up to Earth Day where you can go in, enter to win a $25 gift card every single day. And we do a coupon every time you enter. So lots of great discounts in April. It’s an opportunity for you to get signed up for our e-club rewards program where you can learn about our sales ahead of time, get those early coupons. There’s lots of benefits to joining our reward program, our e-club, we call it. And knowing, having early access to those sales is like the number one priority. So I always love that April acquisition month where we’re really… You know, gaining new customers and highlighting what’s great about ARK and also giving everyone a deal.

SPEAKER 01 : 6:51

That ARK Thrift, is it, if someone’s at a kind of an unusual size, does that make it especially good to shop at the stores because they might have stuff that’s donated of all different sizes and shapes, that kind of thing, right?

SPEAKER 02 : 7:04

Oh, yeah. Well, you know, we care about inclusivity. inclusivity and that does not eliminate different sized people, you know, um, from the little bitty to the, you know, big and tall, we’ve got it all. Um, yes, it’s a treasure hunt. You’ve got to be on the lookout, but we really try and be size inclusive. And we also categorize by size, which not a lot of thrift stores do. Many just, you know, uh, They colorize, they call it. Yeah. But we actually have indicator red divider signs where we put the sizes and we let people know this is where your teeny tinies are. This is where you find maternity. We try and be very size inclusive and we don’t exclude anyone. It’s a high priority for us. We take it very seriously. And those things fly off the shelf from the teeny tiny to the much bigger. And everyone will find something at our thrift stores when it comes to clothing. We’ve got it all.

SPEAKER 01 : 7:56

Yes, sizes can be hard. Guys, you can go to the retail store and just see 80 of one or two kind of a narrow size and think, I’m not that unusual. There’s no 3434 men’s pants in here anywhere. And so I think Arc Thrift is just a sneaky good place where you can even try a couple different stores and say, okay, I’m going to find those jeans in 3434 somehow.

SPEAKER 02 : 8:23

And it’s, you know, one of the things I also hear is that the best thing, first of all, our fitting rooms are open for anyone who’s wondering. Some of our competitors do not have their fitting rooms open. But the interesting thing about clothing that’s been worn a couple of times, washed a couple of times, sizing isn’t always true to the number on the label.

SPEAKER 01 : 8:39

That’s good.

SPEAKER 02 : 8:40

So it’s always a good idea, and I tell women this especially, wear your yoga pants and a tight tank top when you come to our stores and you want to just try it on in the aisle. We welcome that. But our fitting rooms are open. You can come try it on. See what works for you. We’ve got a very generous return policy to up to 10 days. So if you prefer to take it home and try it on at home. But I always say in a thrift store, be careful. Try it on. Because after you’ve worn or washed something and it’s a little – more worn the sizing is different so always important to try it on and make sure that it’s a good fit for you you never know you just never know it’s not always the label so maggie what would be one sneaky surprising thing about shopping in the spring at arc thrift that people wouldn’t think about normally Definitely it’s that jean sale, I think. If I’m being really honest, the most fun sale we do is that jean sale. People line up around the block. They go nuts for it. And it’s really the most surprise and fun you can have in one day. Everyone fills up their carts. The best way to find us is in those social channels because we try and make sure we’re putting it on Instagram, at Arc Thrift, and we’re giving you a heads up when it happens. But we’re really letting people know if you follow us on the socials and kind of the chatter and our influencers and everyone who’s on the social media chit-chatting about what’s hot, it’s going to be that jean sale. That’s the hottest thing coming our way this spring.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:14

Okay.

SPEAKER 02 : 10:14

Besides the weather, right? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:17

Well, yeah, no kidding. Go to the website, right? Because that’s not announced yet, but it’ll be late March, you said, right?

SPEAKER 02 : 10:25

Yes. Yep. That’s what we’re shooting for. Likely the last two weeks of March, first week of April. It’s not 100%. We keep it secret from ourselves for a while, too. A lot of factors go into it. And weather is one of those things. So once we know that, we will announce on our social channels and the e-club ahead of time.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:43

And my sneaky strong tip, I think, is gardening stuff. Don’t buy a new rake or hoe or whatever. Just go to Arc Thrift first and see if you can get it. Because it’s pricey.

SPEAKER 02 : 10:55

It is. And we have all of those things. Even those pots. Everyone needs the pots. They’re transferring. They’re doing this or that. Those are coming out of the woodwork right now. Lawn mowers. Oh, yes. We’ve got them. Clippers, hoes, rakes, shovels. All the things you could possibly need. That’s an excellent, excellent point. It is that season. And like I said, donations early. Go now. I don’t know what it is, but with this weather not coming this year, people are starting that cleaning early.

SPEAKER 01 : 11:24

That’s good. I like the lawnmower thing too, because lawnmowers, you know, it can be two, three, four or 500 bucks for a new one. No, thank you. That’s just a no-go for us.

SPEAKER 02 : 11:34

Yep. Come check it out. See what we’ve got. And our aisles are full right now. That kind of stuff. And then the sports equipment too. I walked through a store the other day and I was shocked at the number of lacrosse sticks and, you know, sports gear that’s coming up here too for spring sports, golf clubs, all the things are really hitting the floors. We try and keep it seasonal and people are starting their golfing early this year.

SPEAKER 01 : 11:58

Well, if you haven’t been in an Arc Thrift store, yes, on the golfing, by the way, if you haven’t, you need to go. And there are a lot of you that I think probably haven’t gone and said, I don’t know if the thrift store is my thing. Yeah, I just don’t think I’m going to find anything there I’m going to like or use or whatever. Please take a donation because you always can go through and find stuff that you just don’t use, don’t need, whatever. Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 12:22

And make a day of it. You know, I love to say grab a local coffee, grab a friend, and you can spend hours in our stores. Like, it’s really an experience. Men, women, kids, teenagers, we are seeing every kind of demographic you could possibly think of discover thrift stores, and we are delighted. So excited for the number of Coloradans, especially, who care about their carbon footprint. They really want to make a difference. They want to buy local, and you’re helping a local nonprofit. It’s a real win-win.

SPEAKER 01 : 12:50

Well said. Maggie, how do we connect with you?

SPEAKER 02 : 12:53

Arcthrift.com, best way to find us. And of course, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Arcthrift. Give us a follow, subscribe, like, all the things, and you’ll be signed up to get all the secret information, all the underground stuff that we’re doing.

SPEAKER 01 : 13:07

Super.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:08

And podcast on all the places you find your podcasts, right? All the places, the Get Thrifty podcast, and you can find me at Podcasts with Maggie, and I’ll give you all the details. Super.

SPEAKER 01 : 13:18

Maggie, thanks so much.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:20

Thank you.