Consignment from Home: A Step-by-Step Guide Written from Two Decades in the Retail Trenches by Kirsty Roefs

Author:Kirsty Roefs [Roefs, Kirsty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HOC Press
Published: 2019-01-12T17:00:00+00:00

Unlike tampons and diapers, I can with absolute certainty tell you that assisting local animal shelter pets is uncontroversial. People are quick to jump on board those drives. We have tried a few different drives and we try to devote two months per year to helping local animals. We collect cleaning supplies, raise money for dog and cat food, you name it.

At the insistence of my oldest daughter Jorja (the biggest animal lover I've ever produced), we decided to make pet toys for the animals in the shelter one year for Christmas. That girl has a huge heart and I wasn't about to let her down. We started searching for animal safe toys that wouldn't take a lot of time to make. We narrowed it down to something we could easily make at little to no cost: braided cloth rope toys for dogs. To cut costs we used cotton T-shirts that were unsaleable. We discovered that there was a specific way in which to cut the T-shirt that would turn it into one long continual strand of fabric. We then braided them into beefy ropes. Jorja was super excited to deliver them to the dogs at the shelter right before Christmas. Once they were donated, she asked if we could make them to sell and give the money to the shelter. Her tenacity was irresistible, and I’m still not sure where she gets it from. We set up an old-fashioned sewing bee type event with local friends and family. In one day, we were able to cut, braid and complete around a hundred dog ropes to sell in our shop. The first year, we sold a ton of the dog ropes to all sorts of pet owners and we used that money to buy dog food at wholesale cost through our locally owned and run pet store.

The next year Jorja upped the ante and pushed me to do something for the cats at the shelter. We went back to the drawing board and found catnip squid shaped toys for cats. It involved lots of cutting, sewing and stuffing. Again we set up our sweat shop of friends and family, and created a little over a hundred of these catnip toys. First we donated several to the local shelter and then we went to selling them. Our goal was to sell enough that we could have a cat communal built. A cat communal is a structure that allows several cats to live in a group setting. This provides the cats with a sense of control over their environment as opposed to a cage. It allows them to engage in feline behaviors, which reduces their stress while adapting to shelter life. My daughter now volunteers at the very same shelter. It does my heart good to see my children going out and contributing to society in ways that are meaningful to them.

Our trial run nearly killed our geriatric cat, Chimney. Her normal day consisted of lounging, harassing our small herd of King Charles dogs and demanding more food.

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