Garage Sale Glee.....will be on TV

I have something very exciting to announce. I have been offered airtime on Summit NJ's own local cable station, Hometowne Television, to bring what I write about in my blog to televison. I am in the studio this week editing the first program with the studio manager and I will announce on my blog when the show will be on. Look for the announcement sometime late next week.

A new episode will be on each month and have two to three segments beginning with an estate sale professional talking with me about certain antiques and collectibles. An antique will be brought into the studio (or wherever we will be taping), discussed and appraised as well. In addition, there will be a "Road Trip" segment, where I will travel to a different antiquing city each month and share with you the treasures I bring back.

HomeTowne Television broadcasts via Comcast channel 36 to Summit, Millburn/Short Hills, Berkeley Heights, Springfield, and New Providence; and via Verizon channel 33 to the same five towns plus parts of Chatham, Cranford, Florham Park, Kenilworth, Maplewood, West Orange & Union. The total population of the towns now served by HTTV is substantial: Over a quarter million people living in almost 100,000 households.

And to my friends who do not live in the area, all the shows will be posted to Facebook and YouTube so you can enjoy them as well:)

Silver Fox Salvage

About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of exploring Silver Fox Salvage, an incredible salvage warehouse in Albany, NY. I was greeted by owner Camille Gibeau, who explained to me that "everything has energy." Her energy showed she really enjoys what she does and I spent the next two hours with her, talking and learning a great deal.

When I began researching antiques, I read that when we touch objects we leave an energy imprint on them- be it the glass we drank from, the chair we sat in, or the clothes we wore. Psychometry is the ability to read the history of certain object which may tell us much of the person who wore or owned it, as it has absorbed the vibrations and the memories of that person or persons. Silver Fox Salvage has energy, history and great design all in one.

The Albany location is located in the warehouse district of Albany, just off Broadway and around the corner from the infamous Miss Albany Diner (used in the filming of Ironweed) and Wolff's Biergarten. As you enter the warehouse, they have outdoor salvage such as garden statuary and fountains. Once you walk through the door, be prepared to stay awhile.

Silver Fox obtains its salvage predominantly from old Victorian and Arts & Crafts homes, churches and schools in Upstate NY destined for demolition or rehab. They also create items from antique and vintage parts and pieces complete with new sockets and wiring. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and highly decorative.

Whether it's a 12 foot model airplane, a mounted full Lynx, the bronze cherub antique light fixture, or the signature tables made from silo wood and porch posts-it's all affordable and fairly priced.

Secret shopper report #2

No sooner than I published my last blog post, I received another email from my friend regarding an estate sale she visited near her home:

"Good stuff, good prices. The woman running the sale was very nice, but the other woman working with her was NOT! And guess what? I saw them selling open bottles of liquor!!! Isn't that a NO-NO?"

Yes, selling ANY liquor at an estate sale is prohibited. In fact, I think there is a FEDERAL law prohibiting the resale of alcohol.

What was this estate sale person thinking??

Secret shopping

There were several garage and estate sales this weekend and I just couldn't be everywhere. A friend of mine called me yesterday morning and said she just visited two estate sales and sent me an e-mail all about them. They were actually the same two I had visited earlier in the morning and what she said quite disturbed me.

I'll actually quote her: "I was there on friday. Some good stuff, lots of junk, cluttered. The lady at the door was very polite. The "cashier" was not pleasant: when I offered a little less than what she asked for, answered "NO!" very abruptly. She could have said "sorry, I cannot take less..." or anything more polite."

I was at the same sale and I don't care for the woman who runs it and I know why she is cordial to me. Because I write about her. Rudeness in the estate sale business is something I believe will make or break you-and word does get around. In fact, my friend was not the only one who commented on this woman's rudeness- two other buyers did as well.

I did send this estate sale woman an email about my friend's experience and have received no reply as of yet.

This is what my friend said about the other sale she attended organized by Atlantic Estate Sales: "Sale was very neat, good stuff, the 2 young women were very nice. Prices were reasonable."

That is when my idea of the Estate Sale Secret Shopper was born. My friend LOVES her new role. She will go out to the estate sales and report back to me her experiences-positive or negative. I will write about her positive experiences and name the companies who treated her well. I will not name the companies that she had negative experiences with because I will contact them directly to give them a chance to respond. As always, I personally have to experience the negative behavior before I will name the company in my blog.

Let's see how it goes...