Wandering wardrobe

SPRINGVILLE — Back in 2000, Patty Hulce wanted to sell some of her daughters' used clothing but could find no one in Utah County who would take them on consignment.

So she made the trek to Salt Lake City to a consignment store there.

Then she opened The Wandering Wardrobe, a consignment store on Springville's south end that specializes in used girls' and women's clothing. Since then, other used clothing stores have sprung up around the county.

After finding initial success in the venture at an 800-square-foot shop at Sage Station, the store moved twice before she and her husband, Ken, bought a century-old house on South Main that was on the historic register. After some refurbishing, they hung out their shingle.

It's an easy business, Patty Hulce said.

"I have a good time with work, and there's no stress with me at all."

She has three part-time employees and little overhead, since she pays nothing for her stock, with the exception of new accessories. She pays those who bring her items 50 percent of what she gets. (For information, call the Wandering Wardrobe at 489-3893.)

The store is divided into three sections for girls' clothing and household goods on the main level and women's clothing upstairs. She takes about anything in sellable condition. Items she can't sell after 60 days are donated to charity.

"We take a 14-foot trailer (full of unsold items) to Salt Lake City about every other week," she said.

Other items go to a local multiple sclerosis charity.

If Hulce questions the value of donated items, she checks them out on the Internet before selling them. Some items may have slipped through, however.

"I'm sure I've sold some things that were of (collectible) value," she said.

When Thor Vest, a student at Rees Elementary in Spanish Fork, decided to donate 100 books to his school, he bought 30 from the Wandering Wardrobe with his own money before Hulce discovered what he was doing, and she gave him the rest of the books to meet his goal.

"I found out that it is fun to spend money on yourself, but it is much more fun to spend it on others," he said.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com