Dink and Archie Wyatt came to the Pittsburg area because of his family roots and have been in business since then. That’s also part of his roots.

His mother, Mary Ellen Radford Wyatt, who died in 2008, was born in Mulberry, and married his father, Dr. Louis Archie Wyatt, in 1953 in Mulberry. They later moved to Illinois.

“My dad’s sister had a grocery store in the area, and my uncle, Jim Wyatt, had a store in Arcadia,” Wyatt said.
His folks didn’t want to move back to southeast Kansas, but  Wyatt did, partly to help take care of the family farm in the area.

“I was born in Chicago, and raised south of there, and was in law enforcement for 10 years,” said Mrs. Wyatt. “We moved here in 1999, and we love the people here. Everyone is so friendly.”

They first sold furniture out of the Red Barn, which is located five miles north of Pittsburg on Highway 69.
“Then the fellow who did my custom work passed away,” Wyatt said. “We are still representatives for Carolina Carports and Derksen Buildings.”

“A girlfriend back home has a consignment shop and she kept telling me I needed to have one,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “I went and worked at her shop to learn how to do it, then she came here to help me set this up.”
Her husband remodeled the large shop.

“I redid the floor, which had just been cement, and that really brightens it up,” Wyatt said. “I also welded up some shelves.”

The shop accepts clothing and accessories such as jewelry, household goods, tools, toys, furniture, books, knicknacks, etc. Anyone wishing information about the procedure of bringing in a consignment should call 235-0223.

“People bring things in, we tag the items and so far we’ve gone through 5,000 tags,” Wyatt said. “We do all the work, and if something sells, the person who brought it in gets a check at the end of the month.”

Consignees receive 50 percent of the sale price of each item that sells during the consignment period. Most items are kept at the shop for two months, and they’re marked down to half-price for the second month.

Wedding dresses, prom gowns and formals are kept for three months, with the last month at half-price.

At the end of the consignment period, the owners must pick up unsold items. Things that are not picked up are donated to charity or become the property of the store.

“All items must be in very good condition, they  must be seasonal,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “But I will have coats and swimwear  year-round.”

The store currently has clothing for all ages, shoes, jewelry, bed linens, books, DVDs and VHS tapes and household items.

“I’ve got some children’s Halloween costumes out now, and we’re starting to have some Christmas things,” Mrs. Wyatt said.  “I can’t keep lamps or pots and pans in here, and I’ve been getting a lot of calls for used furniture. I’d like to carry that.”

Children’s clothing also moves fast.

“We have one customer, a grandmother raising a granddaughter, who’s in here two or three times a week,” Wyatt said.

They never know what items will be coming in the door, and sometimes Wyatt gets a little doubtful about some things.

“I’ve seen things and thought, ‘My goodness, I don’t know if we’ll be able  to sell that,’ and a week or so later, somebody comes in and says that they’ve been looking all over for that thing,” he said.

It’s a challenge to place all that varied merchandise into the store and make it work. Wyatt gives his wife credit for that.

“I think she has an eye on how to set something up and make it pretty,” Wyatt said.

Mrs. Wyatt enjoys visiting with those who bring in items.

“When they bring things in, it’s like a little bit of history,” she said. “It’s neat hearing the stories.”

Sometimes the history is personal.

“One lady, Linda Gariglietti, was in here shopping and we got to talking,” Wyatt said. “She told me that her mother was my dad’s first or second grade schoolteacher.”

He looks at the store as an aid to recycling. “It’s almost like going greener, because things come in and go out,” Wyatt said.

“It’s hard now with this economy, and it helps if you can save a dollar,” his wife said.

They have plans to expand as the business grows. “We’ve got four acres of land here,” Wyatt said.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but closed Sunday and Monday.  They used to be open more days, but decided to take a little more time off.

“The journey is the gift of life,” Mrs. Wyatt said.

 “Sometimes we just get too busy to see it.”