On a Thursday afternoon at Colleyville’s Furniture Consignment Gallery, owner Robin Vander Stoep was agile and alert. At every opportunity, she jumped into action, checking in with employees, speaking to customers about earlier visits or a chair for a son’s bedroom and carrying a piece out to a car. Eight-and-half years after the store’s opening, she said the job still keeps her on her toes.

“Oh my gosh, I could do this every single day,” Vander Stoep said. “… Stuff goes in, stuff comes out. … It’s like Christmas every day, and that’s the
fun part.”

While Vander Stoep’s store receives some of its inventory from a handful of vendors, the vast majority comes secondhand from local consignors, she said. Vander Stoep said consignment gives individuals looking to sell used furniture a good alternative to online services, such as Craigslist, 5miles or Facebook. Besides possible safety or communication issues, she said selling in a store helps fight the internet’s “garage sale mentality.”

“When you have a dining set … that [someone] paid $8,000 or $9,000 new … you could put that on Craigslist and you’re not going to get $1,000 for it. It’s not going to happen,” Vander Stoep said. “… People want a deal. That’s why they’re on Craigslist.”

At stores like Furniture Consignment Gallery, Vander Stoep said consignors could sell items closer to their worth. Though the store deals largely with secondhand products, Vander Stoep said it is not a thrift store and that she is fairly picky about the quality of the pieces she accepts. Over the years she has started to weed out what does not sell as well, such as china cabinets, armoires and contemporary or midcentury modern styles.

Today the store is a maze of couches, chairs and dining sets. Beds and bookcases peek out from different corners. Price tags hang at face level under rows of chandeliers. Decorations both line the walls and pop up at random on desks or tables. And darting among all of it is Vander Stoep and her local customers.

Furniture Consignment Gallery
6000 Colleyville Blvd., Ste.120, Colleyville
817-488-7333
www.furnitureconsignmentgallery.net
Hours: Mon.-Sat.10 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Sun.
Consignment: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., closed Sun.