This is an Armadillo you WANT to hit, but it ain't no roadkill!

Today I was at a Biznik meeting that is a bi-weekly gathering of business owners that are working either in professional fields that are focused on "green" products or who are working to further develop their "green" practices. One of the fellows I met is Wayne Stephens, the proprietor of Armadillo Consignment up at the corner of 125th and Greenwood in North Seattle's Broadview district just north of Phinney Ridge and Greenwood.

Normally this is a very busy intersection with lots of cars cruising by daily - so from a commercial real estate point of view there is good drive-by traffic numbers. The problem is that most folks are cruising by so quickly they haven't yet discovered this new, local gem of a business. Only around for 16 months it is already beginning to get a following but as a local real estate agent who likes to support local businesses, I think they could always use a little more business.

What I love about the concept is that it's in that middle ground of not being a "thrift shop" but not necessarily a high end consignment place. In fact, it thrilled me when he said they DO NOT take antiques. That means to me that they have more contemporary products for the home, which is a good thing. It probably also means their store smells better than others too since it won't have that "antique smell" either. Amy Woidtke, a fellow Bizniker who works in design, likes that they really merchandise the products in their store so that it's easy to see what's available. Clothing is taken here too so it's a variety of products that are available and likely it makes for a much more fulfilling shopping trip for anyone who ventures in. For anyone who's just starting to build their household it's a great alternative to new furniture stores and it's a great way to reduce, reuse, recycle. If your starting to reduce what's in your household then this is a great way to find a new purpose for your things. I'm certainly going to check it out for our staging work and perhaps use it to trade out products over time and to keep things fresh for our inventory.

I hope you too will stop by soon and actually hit this "I ain't no road kill" Armadillo!