Apparently I am very late to the game in discovering the Encore consignment shop on Route 1 in Hamorton. I've been donating a lot of my late mother's household things to charity, but some things are just too "good" to give away. A few friends suggested that I try consigning them at the Encore, an upscale shop that benefits the Chester County Hospital.
So I did some online research to get ballpark prices, read through the shop's detailed and sensible rules, collected several "good" items (some artwork and silver) and headed over there on Monday morning. The consignment process operates on a number system, like at a bakery, and I waited in my car for about 15 minutes before my number was posted on their bulletin board.
The volunteers went through my stuff to see if it met their quality standards (all but an unexciting silverplate dish did), and we agreed how they should be priced. I found the volunteers to be friendly, organized and knowledgeable, and I'll be eager to see what prices I get (the shop, of course, keeps a certain percentage).
An interesting historical footnote, courtesy of my friend Joan: in the 19th century the Encore building housed a store that sold only "free" goods (those produced by free labor rather than by slaves). From R.C. Smedley's 1883 "History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania":
"Hamorton's activity against slavery included more than building a school and hall, and listening to speeches. The village also supported a long-running "free store" operated by Sarah Harvey Pearson. Pearson first opened a store which boycotted goods produced by slave labor in a stone house on the north side of Baltimore Pike. In 1844 she built a new store of brick on a lot across the road which she had recently purchased. The store originally was kept in the north room but was moved to a frame addition built by her husband George on the south. George Pearson also was an ardent abolitionist and active in the Free Soil Movement. Pearson operated her business as a free store through 1858."
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