The saying “if we don’t use it we lose it” runs true, especially for small businesses in towns like Alliance. One important small business in our town that provides for our community is the Posh Consignment Shoppe. Oftentimes consignment shops are not very well understood, especially by younger generation customers. They are different from second-hand stores such as Goodwill, and they benefit the person who is donating. Shopping at Posh Shoppe is a win-win situation for all parties involved in the purchasing of an item. It is also a much more ethical way to shop that will save buyers a lot of money.

Posh was opened on April 1, 2011. Founder Pasha Korber explained, “There was a clothing consignment shop in Alliance before that was owned by Kathy Martinson for about 15 years.” She remarked that she had always shopped at consignment and thrift stores since high school, and when the consignment store closed she knew she would miss it. Korber said, “I thought this would be my chance to create a beautiful, fun consignment shoppe and see if I can really do it. I’ve never worked in retail stores before, and I wasn’t born a fashionista-no one is. So when I decided I wanted to try opening my own consignment store for our town the first thing I did was get on the computer and Google, ‘How to open a clothing consignment store?’”  

Eleven years after opening, Posh Shoppe is a staple in the community that many people love to shop at. There are many benefits to shopping at Posh rather than buying clothes first hand. This store is locally founded so the money generated goes back into the community. The clothing items in Posh Shoppe are nearly brand new and extremely high quality, but for a cheaper price. There are a variety of styles and clothing items available. Korber explained, “Shopping at Posh is like shopping in 50 stores at one time because we have such a variety of styles, brands [and] accessories. You can find both casual wear and formal wear in our shop instead of having to go out of town to visit multiple stores.” Community members can become Consignors and donate their clothing to the store to be sold. She remarked, “Consignors, the people who bring their clothes to sell at Posh Shoppe, get to make some money without having to do the extra work of trying to sell their clothes on thier own- we provide the selling service and split a percentage of the profit with the consignors.” 

Shopping at Posh Shoppe benefits our community of Alliance. Korber said, “We give back to the community in a unique way, in that if you are a consignor with us you receive money from us. When you go to Wal-mart do they give you money to shop in their store? We focus on pricing our items at a good median price point so that the Consignor makes some money, and the customer is getting a better deal (lower price) than buying brand new.” This is beneficial to shoppers and to consignors.  Korber explained that, “For 11 years, Posh Shoppe has provided an affordable and fun clothing shopping experience in a rural area that has not been blessed with multiple clothing shopping options for several decades.” Recently Goodwill was opened in Alliance, but Korber explained what many shoppers do not understand is that they need to be conscious about where they do business. She said we must “understand the difference about shopping with local small businesses like Posh Shoppe versus national level organizations.”

Posh Shoppe is an essential store to Alliance. So next time you need to buy something like an article of clothing, shoes or a purse, check out Posh Shoppe before you go online and buy something first-hand. As Korber explained, “Whatever we give our attention to will blossom, flourish, and be happy. Whatever we ignore will eventually remove itself. We must nurture what we love, and remember, ‘if we don’t use it we will lose it.’”