Shopping for secondhand treasures can be a mixed bag; for every fantastic find, there’s a conversely questionable piece of junk. That’s not the case at Best Kept Treasures, a new upscale resale store in Santa Maria’s Mission Creek Plaza.
A recent perusal of the shop’s clean and charmingly cluttered shelves revealed an assortment of beaded bracelets and dangly earrings, porcelain figurines, and even handcrafted birdhouses with perches made out of old silverware.
“Everything is handpicked. Most of it’s gently used merchandise, but some of it is brand-new. But all of the new stuff is made by local crafters,” shop owner Rose Arzate said. “Customers bring things in to sell, and then I go all over the tri-counties looking for things.”
[newspack-popup id="53316"]When the Sun was visiting, repeat customer Hayley Edick picked up a white, wrought-iron chandelier and said, “Oh, this is pretty, Rose! Where did you get this?”
Arzate told her she picked it up at an estate sale in Santa Ynez.
“We sell all different styles—Asian, Man Cave, country, shabby-chic—so when someone comes in, whoever it is, she’ll be able to find something,” Arzate explained.
When asked why she likes to shop at Best Kept Treasures, Edick said she likes “the warm environment.”
“Rose always has new inventory. She has great prices, and she caters to all tastes,” she said.
Edick first found the store while shopping with her sister. Now she stops in every week, and she usually brings a friend with her, too.
“I think once people come in, they kind of get addicted,” Arzate said. “It’s the perfect place for people who like to decorate their homes and who like to change things up. One person’s unwanted item is another person’s treasure.”
She said many customers come in to drop off something old and then pick up something new. Unlike most consignment shops, Arzate buys people’s wares upfront and then resells them without any markup.
“As long as it’s in excellent shape and it’s desirable, I’ll usually take it,” she said, adding that her business model is to sell off of volume, not individual items, so she can keep her prices low.
“The prices here are similar to what you’d find at a local thrift store,” she said.
And she’s right: Most of the items on display are in the $3 to $12 range, and the bigger items, like furniture, are reasonably priced.
In addition to offering low prices, Arzate also prides herself on keeping things fresh.
“Every day we have new items,” she said.
She keeps her customers up to date on her inventory by posting pictures of new arrivals on the Best Kept Treasures Facebook page, facebook.com/BestKeptTreasures. She also uses the site to tell people about special deals.
Best Kept Treasures is in the Mission Creek Plaza at 2880 Santa Maria Way, suite A, in Santa Maria. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information, call 406-4815.
Managing Editor Amy Asman wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.