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Retail • Projects • Profiles
Shop Local, Reach Deep
Finders Keepers consignment shops give back to community
By Clare S. Richie
O n the evening of Sunday, Sept 10, Finders Keepers Boutique & Menswear in
Decatur will host its first Shop Fall Fashion for a Cause event benefitting the
Atlanta-based nonprofit Wells for FFope, which strives to bring water, health
care and education to remote villages in South Sudan. While the event is new,
it’s part of this woman-owned resale business’ long tradition of giving back.
“When you shop local the reach is much deeper than you think. You are really helping
the community,” Finders Keeper Consignments owner Bonnie Kallenberg explained. “We
are a small business, so we look to help small nonprofits.”
A frequent winner in the city’s “Best of Atlanta” polls, Finders Keepers boasts four
stores that Kallenberg thoughtfully added over more than three decades to meet customers’
needs.
In 1986, while Kallenberg was at home raising two small children, she took a part-time
job at Finders Keepers, located then in Avondale Estates Tudor Village. Four years later she
bought the business.
“I loved being in a store. I loved merchandising. I liked helping people find things, but
on the resale level because there’s so much value there,” Kallenberg said.
As the resale business boomed in the 1990s, Kallenberg relocated Finders Keepers
Fashions a block down North Avondale road into a new, much larger space that today
features women’s clothing and accessories. To accommodate the supply and demand for
furniture, Kallenberg converted a nearby body shop into Finders Keepers Furnishings. A
decade later, Finders Keepers Boutique opened on North Decatur Road to showcase more
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upscale and designer women’s fashions. Its menswear neighbor opened in July 2011.
As the business grew, so did its commitment to giving back. From the beginning,
Finders Keepers donated unsold, unclaimed merchandise to local transitional centers and
nonprofits, like New American Pathways, Atlanta Step-Up Society, Wellspring Treasures
and Urban Street Ministries.
Maybe you’ve attended one their end-of-season “bag sales” that raises $1,500 to $2,500
per sale for a local nonprofit. “We put everything in the parking lot — all you can stuff in a
bag for $10. It’s a win/win — we get rid of everything quickly and the charity receives 100
percent of the sales,” Kallenberg said.
For Kallenberg, giving is local and personal. Early on, she met a New American
Pathways (NAP) caseworker who explained the challenges of refugees rebuilding their lives
in Clarkston, just up the road. That began a long relationship beyond bag sales.
Kallenberg hired Kanu Bartuah, a Liberian refugee, to work in the furniture store.
When she learned his dream was to go to college to become a pilot, Finders Keepers
stepped up once again and raised money for Bartuah to attend Middle Georgia College
of Aviation. Today, Bartuah has his private flying license and is working to accrue hours
toward a commercial license.
“I really feel like our customers, consigners, donors and everybody in the community
paid for a significant part of his college so he didn’t have to come out with huge student
loan debt. It’s a very giving community — his story resonated with people,” Kallenberg
shared.
Finders Keepers also participates in The World Wear Project — Shoe Box Program,
a for-profit that buys used shoes and either recycles them or sells them to developing
nations. “Since they were not technically our shoes, I didn’t think it was right that we got
the check,” Kallenberg said. Instead, she sends the checks, nearly $700 worth last year, to
Wells for FFope.
Any nonprofit can benefit from Finders Keepers by setting up a nonprofit consignor
account. Members can drop off high quality clothing, accessories, furniture or housewares
and name the nonprofit as the consignor to receive 45 percent of the proceeds from the
sale of the items.
As Kallenberg looks toward future expansion opportunities, she’s tempted to build a
bigger online presence beyondTradesy.com and SnobSway.com, but she’s careful to protect
her thriving neighborhood business.
“We are more about community than being everywhere. I grew up here. I’m right at
home,” Kallenberg said, adding, “I think there will always be a place for brick and mortar
because when you shop local, you give local.”
Follow Finders Keepers Consignments on Facebook or fkconsign.com. Get details on
Shop Fall Fashion for a Cause and the September Bag Sale, benefiting Wells for FFope. HU
1 4 September 2017 | 1171
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