Meet Heather Reid | Proud Proprietor of Trilogy Consignment

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heather Reid and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, how does your business help the community?
I love this question because I talk about it all the time! The consignment system is a special business model because the vast majority (and for a long time it was the entirety of) our stock here at Trilogy Consignment comes from members of our community, which means that every purchase a customer makes not only supports a small business, but also a member or multiple members of our community. The impact of this is that your money circulates locally at a much higher rate, and knowing there is a market for secondhand clothing incentivizes people to take better care of their things so they can be re-used. This second part has a global impact because it reduces the amount of clothing being donated or thrown away.

On a more personal note, over the years I have been told by customers that the social impact of having access to a shop where the well-being of the customer is priority, where the staff genuinely care about all people, and don’t push to make sales is overwhelmingly positive. I have customers who consider Trilogy Consignment their happy, safe place, where they go to recharge. And having access to guilt-free shopping is great for folks who are learning about the hugely negative environmental impact of the clothing industry and wish to make different choices but still need to shop for “new” clothing, shoes and accessories. I am so proud to own a shop like Trilogy, and am deeply grateful for nearly 9 years serving my amazing community.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I think what sets me apart from others is that I love people as well as my work. I believe that consignment is collaborative and communal. In my opinion, the essence and structure of each consignment shop should vary based on the needs of the community it serves. Some consignment shops exclusively deal with high end designer brands, serving a specific customer base who like that sort of thing. But for me it has always been about stretching and opening up my brand to welcome the variety of amazing people in our community, discovering what they want and doing my best to offer it.

I think my biggest challenge at first was adapting to a new community, having to evolve my eye for what to take in on consignment based on my new customer base. What did and didn’t work for my customers in Newburyport, MA was not the same for my customers in Tarrytown, NY. Flexibility and observation were key in my success early on.

As I got the hang of that, I had to begin to adapt my intake system to accommodate the volume of new consignors discovering Trilogy. Keeping up with accommodating new and returning consignors has to be my biggest challenge over the last 9 years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that no matter how hard I try, I can’t please everyone and that’s okay.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well thankfully my best friend loves cold weather, and since February is the toughest month for small businesses in our area, I’d have her come then! We would kick things off with a day trip upstate to hike to Awosting Falls near New Paltz because it’s my favorite place to go in the winter time.

I have Trilogy locations on both sides of the Hudson River in Tarrytown and Nyack, so we would spend a day exploring each town. In Tarrytown we would explore The Swans House and Pretty Funny Vintage for some unique vintage treasures, stop by Ona for some Fair Trade animal themed gifts for her kids, and I would love to treat her to a special piece of jewelry from Rutheny Jewelry and of course we would have to get facials from our neighbor Botanic Face and Body Spa. Since I’m from California and love Puebla, Mexico, I would take her to La Perla Poblanita for a plate of sopes, then scoot over to Horsefeathers for cocktails and a giant indulgent dessert. I’d also treat her to a fancy dinner at Mint one night too. I dream about their delectable cheeses…

In Nyack, the city center is much bigger and there are too many amazing businesses to list! We could spend two days strolling the town and all the amazing shops there. I am partial to our block of South Broadway though, where she could get a snarky t-shirt perfect for her husband from Sniff a Pickle (love those guys), amazing crystals and fossils for her nature obsessed kiddos from Crystals on the Rocks, she loves to read so we would definitely get lost for a while in Pickwick Books, pick up some fabulous cheese and chocolates from the awesome shops directly across from Trilogy, and maybe try an anti-gravity yoga class at Soul Flyte because I love trying new things with her.

And of course in this fantasy I would have spent the month leading up to her visit planning a dance party with all my local friends in the Tarrytown Trilogy shop…I would turn down the lights, turn on our disco ball, blast some disco on the speakers and have the best night ever. There’s nothing better than getting a good boogie sweat on and then stepping out into the February air for a cool blast.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Of course I have my parents to thank for paving the way for me as small business owners themselves, and for their incredible support over the years, but I learned how to run a consignment shop from Christine Robidoux, owner of Modern Millie in Salem, MA. Her shop has changed over the years, but when I worked for her she was primarily a vintage/modern consignment shop. In the five years I worked for her, she taught me what she knew, and then gave me a chance to manage her second location in Newburyport, MA. This is where I realized how important consignment shops are and decided it was my goal to open my own and spread the good. She is still a mentor and friend, and I will always cherish every member of her team that I learned from as well.

Website: www.consigntrilogy.com

Instagram: @consigntrilogy and @consigntrilogy.nyack

Image Credits
The first two photos of our Nyack location were taken by Caroline Scimone and the others are by Drew Bordeaux except for the summery split image which doesn’t need to be credited.