Secondhand shop, first-rate idea: 34 years and two recessions later, Mich. partners keep resale store going

Detroit Free Press (MCT) - The stock market was crashing, unemployment soared and the president was in search of a plan to stimulate the economy. There was talk about the need for alternative forms of energy, and some economists were saying the recession could turn into a depression.

It was 1974, and Cookie Koblin couldn't find a job. She was an elementary school teacher and couldn't find a full-time position.

Doris Shanbrom was working three days a week at her husband's floor-covering store in Waterford. Mich. But she wanted more hours. She wanted some stability. Koblin and Shanbrom had children in the same sixth-grade class, and they started talking, started dreaming about opening a business that would be recession-proof.

Koblin and Shanbrom each threw in $500, along with a third partner, and opened Bloomfield Keego Resale Shop in Keego Harbor, Mich. At the time, nobody thought they'd make it _ not their male landlord, not their male accountant, and not their male insurance agent.

"As soon as we could, we got our own building," Koblin said. "We switched to a woman accountant and woman insurance agent, who didn't treat us like it was a joke. Today, there are more women in business, but it was a joke then."

Now, as the country struggles through another recession, they are still going, although the third partner left about 20 years ago. Koblin and Shanbrom are both 70 now and have no plans to retire. Their relationship is like a marriage, full of ups and downs, and their customers are devoted and loyal.

Business is down, but they are surviving _ 34 years after finding opportunity in a dire situation.

"We don't look at resale clothing as something to be shameful," Koblin said. "We wear nothing but resale clothes ourselves."

Costelle Barnes walked into the Bloomfield Keego Resale Shop, wearing an entire outfit _ except for her purse and hat _ that she had bought at the store _ blue jeans, a fleece sweatshirt and a blue wool coat.

"They have reasonable prices, the clothes are in style, and they think about the full-figured woman," said Barnes, 63, of Pontiac, Mich., who has been shopping at this store for more than 30 years.

She kept talking while flipping through a rack of clothes. "I want to get through this rack and get to the back to the shoes because I'm so afraid that people will start coming in," Barnes said. "I'll be watching all the other clients come in and I'm thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, she probably wears a size 9 shoe, like me.'

"I have to hurry up and get to the back before they get the nice ones."

Barnes is retired from General Motors, where she worked on the line as an assembler and maintenance worker. "When I was working for General Motors I was in here all the time, because I wanted to go into work looking real cute," Barnes said.

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Koblin and Shanbrom know what Barnes likes _ she has been a customer for 30 years _ and they call her to let her know if something special comes into the store. "Purses, shoes, they know what I like," Barnes said.

She smiled at the two owners.

"We have watched each other grow younger," Barnes said. "They are good people."

At the back of the store, Kathryn Henry, 37, of Southfield, Mich., was shopping in the store for the first time. "I like it," she said. "This is beautiful. This is probably one of the best resale stores I've been in because it's well-organized. The clothes aren't worn. They are quality stuff."

A few feet away, Joyce Sims, 63, of Detroit was going through a rack of women's clothing. She shops at 10 different resale stores across Detroit. "This place is one of the top ones," Sims said. "I find quality clothes and good prices."

Koblin and Shanbrom have been friends since they went to Mumford High School in Detroit.

"It's like a marriage," Koblin said. "There are good days and bad days. But the one thing we know about each other: We are honest and we are reliable. There are times we make major mistakes on decisions on what we will take, but we are honest."

Koblin is the organized one; Doris is more flexible.

"I can't stand a mess," Koblin said. "We each do our own job. I do more pulling and organizing. She does most of the book-work."

Shanbrom loves to talk to customers. "Our customers come in for their weekly therapy sessions," Shanbrom said. "They love to talk and tell us what is going on in their lives. Not every customer. But we have people come in every day, just to go through the racks and see what's new."

Koblin has three girls and Shanbrom had two girls and a boy. All their children and their husbands, at some point, have worked in the store.

"Occasionally, our grandchildren work here, too," Koblin said.

The store is about 2,400 square feet with about 3,000 items. "This is your average-sized resale store," Shanbrom said.

The typical customer is a female professional, usually 40 or younger, looking for something to wear at the office. Customers come from across Detroit. "We have a lot of young kids who have grown up in this store and now bring in their own children," Koblin said.

They sell everything from $1 jeans to furs that cost $2,500.

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"We are not computerized because we are too old," Koblin said.

Over the years, business has gone up and down and up and down and up and down. "This is the worst business climate I've seen," Shanbrom said. "It started off with the gas prices. They came up to the counter and said, 'I'm only getting one item because I have to put gas in my car.'

"That started about a year ago. Now, people don't have jobs."

Business is down about 30%, but they have no plan to close, no plans to retire. "We are going to keep working as long as we can," Shanbrom said. "We are not closing up."

Overall, they have a simple philosophy, which is proclaimed on a sign in the back room: "You don't have to be crazy to work

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© 2009, Detroit Free Press.