In Our Backyard - March 2014: Merry Go Round
SO MAYBE those deep sale Prada pumps never stretched the way you thought they would. Or maybe your t’ween daughter’s designer jeans won’t squeeze over her post-adolescent curves. Or maybe you just can’t justify paying four figures for a high-end bag…then Merry Go Round in Northvale is the place for you.
Merry Go Round opened 36 years ago because Norwood resident Diane Johnson wanted to dress her three kids as nicely as her neighbor’s. She started with children’s clothing, but now Merry Go Round is a high quality consignment shop for men, women and children with a smattering of housewares and toys.
“IT WAS EBAY BEFORE THERE WAS EBAY,” says Johnson’s daughter Barbara France, 38, who took over the operation from her mother eight years ago.
France recalls her mom saying that when the shop first opened the deli owner next door predicted she’d be out of business in a year. Instead, when the year was out, Johnson took over the deli space and the shop has been going strong ever since.
The modest space is packed with merchandise. Hanging jackets, blouses, skirts and dresses line the walls, and shoes are neatly arranged by size on shelves. Circular racks tight with next-to-new looking tops, sweaters and pants from stores such as J. Crew, Anthropologie and Abercrombie & Fitch fill much of the interior. There’s a small case of fine jewelry and pricier items are perched behind the register.
It works like this - the consignee gets 50 percent of the selling price. What doesn’t sell can be picked up after 60 days or donated to charity. Proceeds are available in cash the next time you visit the store.
From behind a long counter, France and store manager Erica Wacht, 47, sort, fold and price an endless stream of goods. France says of the 3,000 or so items that come in every week, only about 1,000 make the cut. This is because, according to France, they only accept laundered, in style, and “virtually perfect” merchandise. This means rejection.
Rejecting people’s cherished goods puts France and Wacht on the emotional frontlines. One woman started to cry when Wacht couldn’t accept the clothes of the woman’s only child. Wacht had to console her, walking her to her car and urging her not to take it personally.
The pair also admits they don’t shy away from telling a customer that something is too short, too tight or just not right even if the customer doesn’t want to hear it. “They come here to shop and get therapy,” says Wacht, “…we are like retail bartenders.”
Maybe that explains why customers come to Merry Go Round from as far afield as Brooklyn, Westchester, Englewood Cliffs and Connecticut. Even former customers now living in North Carolina and Miami come back to haul home bags of items they say they can’t find elsewhere.
ITEMS LIKE SPARKLY SILVER JIMMIE CHOO sandals, size 10 ($325), a light beige Burberry trench coat ($250) and a large brown leather Ferragamo bag with steel mesh straps ($1,200) – OK, that one’s still pricey, but a lot less than retail.
France loves her job and loves the constant stream of customers she and Wacht fondly call “personalities.” They say they never know who and what is going to come through the door. “Everyday you walk in and wonder,” says France, “OK, what’s going to happen today?”