Greater Than 13 Consignment: Owner Allison Barnes Follows In Her Mother’s Footsteps
By Shannon Gallagher
Entrepreneurship appears to be in Allison Barnes’ blood. She grew up watching her mother run a consignment store out of their den and continued to have visions of running her own business over the 20 years she has lived in Onslow County. Though as Allison discovered, it is not always easy to come up with a realistic business idea.
When Allison first started to seriously consider starting her own business, she thought of starting a miniature golf/ entertainment center for youth. However, after attending her first Small Business Seminar at Coastal Carolina Community College in May 2006 with Pete Ellis, she realized the startup costs for this type of business were too costly. After learning this, her idea then went to the food industry, she continued attending the Small Business Seminars and realized that the food industry is also costly, as well as complicated and requires a lot of capital. Allison attended the Fall 2010 REAL Entrepreneurship program from 9/13/10 – 11/1/10 and as she worked with Pete she began to rethink her business idea and seriously considered some advice Pete gives all of his students. Pete stresses to his students that there is a realistic entry point for all new businesses, the key is to find what entry point works for your business idea and to find your niche.
Allison took this advice to heart. After becoming frustrated when having to purchase a formal dress from California because no stores in the Jacksonville area carried the size she needed, she decided it was time to start a consignment shop that specifically carried women’s sizes over size 13. The store, called Greater Than 13 Consignment, specifically carries sizes greater than 13 and is full of various, fashionable options, for women that may have difficulty finding clothes in their size in this area. Allison realized that this business venture was the most realistic idea for her with relatively low start-up costs.
Allison continued attending the Small Business Center seminars and worked with Pete to develop her business plan. Allison said that the hardest part for her in this process was determining how much everything would cost realistically and gathering materials to begin selling. Initially, she gathered materials for the store slowly and most of the beginning clothes came from her personal items or yard sales.
As Allison continued to build her inventory and worked on her business plan she also began looking for locations for her business. She started looking in the City of Jacksonville, but she realized the cost for rent, along with the city permits and extra taxes required were not feasible. She then began looking outside the city; as she did, she used her previous experiences with her mother to select her location. Serious consignment shoppers in the area have a standard route or circle of shops that they go to every week. Greater Than 13 Consignment is in this loop and has now become a regular stop on the weekly consignment route. This is a perfect example of using Pete’s advice. Allison looked at the market, found her niche and thought about her location and this has led her to have a successful business for her first four months of operation.
When Allison first opened she had problems finding enough clothes to stock her store. However, that has all changed in her four months of business; now she has about 60 consistent consigners with more coming weekly. Visiting her store you will see racks full of very nice, sometimes not ever worn, clothes for women with all different fashion styles. The layout of the store and her organization is clear and easy to navigate. When you first walk into the business there is a room off to the left specifically dedicated to formal wear, an area very important due to Marine Balls and other events requiring formal wear. The main room has racks organized by size. This makes it easy for women to come in and find their size quickly, instead of having to scour through racks to find one garment in their size. This organization has made it easier for Allison as well as her customers.
Currently, Allison is the only employee, but she hopes in the future to be able to expand and bring in some part-time staff. Pete is very impressed and proud to see how hard Allison has worked to start her business and how successful Allison has been in only her first few months in business. He plans to continue helping her as her business grows. When asked what Allison thought of the REAL course, Allison said she would suggest taking the REAL course for anyone who is interested in starting their own business because you are provided with resources and assistance in planning for your business, which is essential to success. The courses were so beneficial that Allison plans to continue taking business courses at the Small Business Center to increase her knowledge and experience with various aspects of her business.
Allison’s new store is getting a lot of attention, which is bringing in new customers. She was recently in the Jacksonville paper http://www.jdnews.com/articles/new-94467-clothing-sizes.html, and has very loyal customers advertising for her and bringing in new customers every week. If you are in the Jacksonville area and interested in seeing this store or getting rid of some clothes that you don’t wear anymore you can visit her website at www.greaterthan13.com or stop by the store: 1537 Freedom Hwy, Suite 2, Hubert NC. Her hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM until 4 PM.