The Lady Bug changes hands

According to new owners Paulette and Dave Krampitz and prior owner Linda Wagner–Paulette’s mother–a whole array of circumstances fell into place to make the transition in ownership of New Richland's Lady Bug Thrift Shop, which happened at the beginning of March, surprisingly smooth.

“We call it God’s timing,” Paulette observes.

Perhaps most importantly, after operating the business on New Richland’s main street for 12 years, Linda felt she might be willing to hand it over to someone else. Prior to purchasing the Lady Bug, she had operated a different consignment shop for 13 years along Highway 30. “I’ve been at it for 25 years,” she says.

Having invested so much of herself, however, “It couldn’t be just anybody.”

In the meantime, Paulette and Dave had acquired extra free time thanks to Dave’s decision to sell his long-time business, Dave’s Body Shop.

Along with that, the next door building occupied for decades by the New Richland drugstore and more recently by the New Richland Craft Mall, became available for purchase, creating the opportunity to double the business’ display floor.

“Dave went from body work to carpenter,” comments Paulette. “From the very start, it seemed he had a vision of what it should be like.”

A 15-foot opening in the wall was the first step. A bathroom was updated, a broom closet was made into a dressing room, and the lighting was consolidated to a single switch.

“You used to have to walk through the store, pulling on about 15 different strings,” observes Dave. “This way is much better.”

With the expanded space came expanded options. A display area for furniture was not only created, but set up as a comfortable, homey space which both shows the items offered for sale to better advantage and also offers a place for pleasant visits. Some tools and gardening equipment, which had never been among the store's offerings before, found a space.

Mostly, though, “We could spread everything out and make the whole space more appealing,” says Paulette.

“We’ve had people thank us for keeping the business in town, and for helping the buildings on main street stay occupied,” mentions Dave.

To celebrate the Lady Bug’s 53 years in business, and their new expansion, Paulette and Dave are planning a “Grand Re-Opening” event on Saturday, April 26.

Since taking over daily operation of the store at the start of the month, Paulette, Linda, and four employees–some of whom volunteer their time–have been kept busy receiving consignment items, sorting through and pricing them, and placing them in appropriate places for display.

Business is brisk, Paulette says, with 25 to 30 customers a day coming in to browse.

“Some people come every day,” she mentions. “They know we’re always putting out new items, and they want to keep informed.”

Linda relates business has always been reliably busy, but assures, “Things will get easier. You’ll get better at everything, and people will start to build routines.”

Along with so much that is new, the basic business model of the Lady Bug as a consignment store has been the same since the business was founded by Carol Schultz and Mavis Langlie in 1972.

Linda has a scrapbook passed on to her by Schultz which tells the story. The business was first located in an unused chicken coop on Langlie’s property east of New Richland along Highway 30. The name “lady bug,” she adds, is based on the insect’s abiding presence in the building. The store moved to a larger structure on the same property as it grew. Eventually, however, Langlie decided to withdraw from the business, so Schultz moved to the building along New Richland’s main street next to Wagner’s grocery.

When she bought the shop in 2013, Linda says she had no wish to argue with success, so she kept the business practices the same, and they continue now under Dave and Paulette’s ownership.  

“People find clean items in good condition,” describes Linda, who continues to work for the business nearly every day. “We want them to make an appointment, and then they bring it to the store.”

The “appointment” consists mostly of dropping the items off, although new consignors will need to take a few minutes to set up an account and be assigned a number. Especially back when her children were young, Linda mentions she would bring items to the Lady Bug. She still has the number assigned to her back then: 35.

“We’re up to 3,500 now,” she relates.

The Lady Bug staff checks with consignors about whether they want any items which don’t sell returned to them. If they do, that information is recorded. Items are sorted through, priced, and placed on display to be sold. “We decide whether we’re going to display things,” notes Linda. “Sometimes there are items that we don’t believe people will buy. Then we either return them to the owner, or do something else with them.”

When pieces sell, the shop keeps half of the selling price, the other half is credited to the consignor’s account to be paid later.

The shop undergoes a changeover in February and August.

“You’ve got to keep seasonal,” comments Linda. “People won’t be buying winter clothing in the middle of summer.”

During the changeover, consignors are notified and given a time window to come to the store and reclaim any of their items. Any season-sensitive pieces remaining are donated to a church in Albert Lea, which holds a garage sale, then uses the proceeds toward mission work.

“It’s been a very successful system,” notes Linda of the overall process. The three observe that there’s no predicting what items will be brought in next.

Fairly recently, Linda describes, she encountered a “first-ever” consignment: an elaborate wooden box–a “kit” of sorts–for storing the ashes of a cremated pet. After doing some research regarding similar items online, she says she set a price and put it on display.

“We sold it,” she observes. “You just never know what you’ll be working with.” The internet is a useful reference when staff members setting the price come across items outside their area of expertise, she says, but warns, “You’ve got to be reasonable. You can’t go pricing things so high that people won’t buy them.”

The internet has proven useful to the Lady Bug in another way as well. “One day, a new lady was shopping. I got into a conversation with her, and I asked her where she was from.”

The answer, “Ohio,” took her completely by surprise. “So I asked, ‘How did you hear about this store?’”

The woman had been visiting some family members in Blooming Prairie and found herself with some spare time. “She ‘googled’ it,” remembers Linda. “I think over time we’ve had more and more customers who find us that way.”

Paulette and Dave express gratitude for the alignment of circumstances which have put them at the helm of the long-standing business and have allowed them to make improvements.

“We really appreciate the chance to keep the business growing,” comments Paulette. “To do that, we need everybody–our consignors, our customers, and our employees.

“We feel very fortunate, and we hope to be running the business for a good, long time.”