My Story - from rags to general manager!

I'm feeling a little sluggish this week - not sure why - and don't feel very inspired to write a post, so thought I would simply share a little about how almost three years ago I became the general manager of a used furniture store. Not something you think about when you're imagining what you'll be when you grow up!

In the fall of 2003 - after a lot of thought and overcoming a lot of fears - I returned to school to complete my bachelor's degree. I enrolled at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois in their REACH program which is designed for adult learners. Once a week I made the 45 minute drive from Wheaton to Deerfield to attend class from 6 to 10 p.m. Between classes I had about 20 hours of homework to complete - it was the hardest, but most rewarding, thing I have ever undertaken. I received my degree in "Communication and Organizational Leadership" in May of 2006. What a day that was! I don't think I stopped smiling the whole time.

With this brand new degree in hand and the luxury of looking for a job working for an organization I was passionate about - I had lunch with Chris Ellerman, CEO at Outreach Community Ministries, someone I knew from church, and an organization my husband and I had financially supported for years. When Chris and I met there wasn't a position within the agency that fit my skills - but he provided lots of good resources and suggestions in my job search.

Well, the summer went by and I couldn't find a job - any job - let alone working for an organization I cared about and I was getting discouraged. Meanwhile, Jubilee Furniture - this used furniture store that was suppose to be open for eight Saturdays starting in February of '06 was going strong and Chris realized he was going to need to hire a general manager to run the place. When Chris heard I was still unemployed, we met and he showed me the job description for the position and it included stuff like: "must be able to repair furniture," " must work every Saturday," and "must recruit for volunteers, customers and donors," and lots of other stuff that was overwhelming and scary. I think I read it and laughed saying, "Chris, there's no way I can do all of this!" Regardless, two months and multiple interviews later - it's quite a process to get hired at Outreach - I was the new general manager of Jubilee Furniture Co.!

The journey hasn't been without bumps - many bumps - like the microburst that touched done on March 31, 2007 and extensively damaged the Wheaton Christian Center building where Jubilee Furniture is located. We ended up closing the store for FIVE months while the building was being repaired and lost over half of our inventory. And I have times where I work too many hours and push myself too hard and wonder why I do it - certainly not for the money - and I get discouraged. But then a donor gives me a glimpse into their life - like both Laura (Hi Laura!) and Lee did recently - and I'm encouraged. Or we're able to help someone get back on their feet by passing on furniture to excellent organizations like World Relief or Bridge Communities - and I'm encouraged. Or I hear a story from a staff member at Outreach of someone impacted by our services and programs - and I'm encouraged.

And ultimately I'm encouraged knowing that today - right now - I am doing what I feel God has called me to do.

May that be so for you too!

Oh, and I'll post photos tomorrow morning of some of the new stuff in the store!

Scared about this whole blog business!

I gotta tell you I'm nervous about this blog thing. I'm about to send out an e-mail pointing Jubilee Furniture customers to it and I'm not sure how it will be received. Should it simply be info about the store? Can I post personal stuff or not? Why do I feel like I'm about to be judged or graded like on an exam?

Went to the store yesterday to take photos of some of the furniture currently for sale - and compared to many of the blogs I follows - my photos are crap. I'm not fishing for a compliment, it's the truth. The lighting in the store is horrible and my camera is simply so-so. Which just adds to my nervousness. I know some super impressive - high tech - blogs and this blog is neither. Is there still value to my customers? I'm hoping you'll let me know - one way or the other!

Pickups were strong this week - which is always a good things. Lots of new stuff for when the store opens tomorrow. Unfortunately, the new stuff was still in the back all sort of heaped together and I was by myself and couldn't move it into even semi-good light, so instead of posting photos of the new stuff - the pictures are of items that have been in the store for a week or two. One is of the Henredon sofa that I posted about earlier - I did mark it down to $125. It's way cool and extremely comfortable and a quality piece of furniture.

Location and Hours

Sorry - as I wrote in my first post, I honestly don't know what I'm doing. So, where's the store located? We rent space from Wheaton Christian Center. Wheaton Christian Center purchased an old K Mart located at the southeast corner of North Ave. and Schmale Rd. in Carol Stream, Illinois. Our address is 610 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188.

Our store hours are Fridays 1 to 8 and Saturdays 9 to 4. I know, I know - hours don't work for everyone, but that's all we can do right now. Remember, my "staff" is made up of volunteers and it's hard enough to find people who will give up a Friday or Saturday and work at the store - let alone another day each week. We hope to get there eventually though. We also need the other three days for Dave to pick up donation and restock the store from the previous weekend.

Need to call me? The Jubilee Furniture phone number is (630) 337-1467.

I think that's everything for the moment! :-)

A Little Background Information

Got the first post up and realize I didn't really tell you anything about the store. I'll try to make it short. Jubilee Furniture is a division of Outreach Community Ministries and has the unique mission of reselling quality used furniture for charitable purposes (actually, it's probably not that unique - a lot of resale stores support the excellent work of some non-profit). Okay, we have the not so unique mission of reselling quality used furniture for charitable purposes! :-) Outreach is a social service agency and has been providing opportunities and restoring hope to those who need it most in DuPage County, Illinois for over thirty years. For lots of good info about Outreach you can go to our website http://www.outreachcommunityministries.com/. Enough said?

I am thrilled at the number of donation calls I've been receiving (after a bit of a slow period) and the excellent stuff we have in the store right now. I'm meeting a couple of volunteers out there this afternoon to price and arrange what Dave picked up this week. Dave Buckson is our warehouse manager. He and I are the two paid Jubilee Furniture/Outreach employees - everyone else you would encounter at the store is a volunteer.

So, what's new you might be asking yourself? Good question. We received a Hendredon sofa - in excellent condition - to name one thing. We actually have quite a bit of retro/vintage items in the store right now. I priced the Hendredon $200, but will probably drop it to $125. If you come in to see it and I haven't dropped the price yet - just remind me and I'll sell it to you (if you want it - it really is beautiful, goldish in color) for the $125 (plus tax).

Not into vintage furniture? Not a problem. We have lots of other stuff too. If there's something special you're looking for, just ask and I'll get back to you. I promise to start bringing my camera to the store and adding photos in the future (this whole blog thing is something I've been thinking about for a long time, found an extra hour and thought I would just dive in - otherwise might never feel quite confident enough to do it!).

Help! What am I doing?

Okay. Just finished entering lots of names/addresses/e-mails in my Outlook contact information for individuals who expressed a desire to be part of the Jubilee Furniture mailing list - and realized it's been many months since I've sent an e-mail and over a year since I sent anything snail-mail and thought to myself, "Susan, maybe you should start one of those new-fangled (:-)) blogs and simply post stuff there and people could check whenever it suited them and you could stop worrying about it." So here I am. Whether or not anyone finds me here is another question.

So, anyone out there? If a blog is never read is it really a blog?