There’s great advice emanating from a small shop in downtown Bridgman these days from a retired banker who is now living her lifelong dream of owning her own store in the community’s central business district and she’s willing to share that advice with anyone thinking about following in her footsteps.
“Don’t give up on your dreams,” is the sage advice from Norma Krumrie. For the record, she’s only encouraging you to do what she did in pursuing her own personal dream. After a 25 year banking career with JP Morgan Chase and a couple of years of retirement she is now the new owner of The Clothes Horse at 4524 Lake Street in downtown Bridgman.
The Clothes Horse is an Upscale Consignment Boutique, featuring designer and brand name clothing and accessories. A couple of months after her birthday last fall, the opportunity to buy The Clothes Horse presented itself and Norma took the leap of faith.
She had worked there for seven years in one capacity or another and in December the chance to buy the business arose and the rest is history. She took over the reins in January and hasn’t looked back ever since.
Asked why she loves The Clothes Horse so much, Norma answers, “It’s just a really FUN place to be!” She adds, “I always dreamed of owning a store of my own since I was a little girl, and to be able to run the place my own way.” Now, she’s living that dream and enjoying it immensely, telling everyone else to follow their own dreams and never give up.
Norma is currently working diligently to upgrade the boutique and is laser-focused on keeping trendy, fresh clothing easily accessible for everyone. Oh, and when she says everyone, she means everyone. Her goal is to cater to women everywhere “from the Jeans & T-Shirt set to the Professional Career Woman.” You can find a broad array of clothing styles for multiple tastes. There was recently at least one wedding gown in the mix, too.
Norma’s established mission statement is “To provide a positive, pleasant, peaceful shopping atmosphere while maintaining high quality merchandise at affordable prices.” A young colleague who has shopped there readily attests to The Clothes Horse hitting that mark. She says, “Norma has great clothing, prom dresses, shoes, purses, jewelry — lots of great jewelry — accessories and more, and all the prices are really good.” She notes that off-season clothing is a real deal as fashions there are marked down considerably to move.
Norma accepts consignments every Monday through Friday by appoint only. When you take items in, she will select what she thinks her customers will buy and prices them according to supply and demand. Her target is current fashions of popular name brands, “preferably purchased within the past year or two.”
A one-page consignment agreement details things like quantity limits, condition of items, and the agreed upon terms of how long items will remain in stock before being discounted, and when they will be retired from the racks and donated to charity. She does not accept any consignment that you want returned if unsold.
The agreement also details how much the consignor will receive and on what terms. Interested consignors can pick up a copy of the agreement at the shop. The phone number there is 269-465-6787, and the shop is open every Monday through Friday from 10am until 5pm and Saturdays from 10-until-3.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market.com is a screen shot from a short video taken last month. Keep in mind, it’s a consignment shop with one-of-a-kind items and what you see in the photo may no longer be available.
