Citywide garage sale well received
Bella Vista had its first-ever citywide garage sale last Friday and Saturday, with several hundred residents putting their wares out to sell.
Bella Vista resident Todd Mitchell said he had already sold some things Friday morning.
“We got rid of quite a bit of stuff already,” he said. “Now cars are coming through like crazy.”
Mitchell, who runs a window cleaning company, said that he was glad to have so much traffic running through town to see his sale, which included exercise equipment, a boat and various odds and ends.
Down another street, Gayle Berkeley had plenty of knickknacks for sale, including books, clothing and decor, plus motorcycle gear and a Harley-Davidson
straddling the line between her garage and driveway.
A lot of things were for sale, she said, because, after moving here from California, she was downsizing. The stuff that doesn’t sell, she said, will be donated to thrift stores.
Traffic started as soon as she set up shop, Berkeley said.
“They started at 7:30 this morning,” she said. “A poor gal with just random stuff, I’m doing okay. I’m happy.”
In addition to residents with sales, the garage-sale event helped promote area restaurants and specials run by different businesses.
Bluebird Shed proprietor Butch Tetzlaff said he had some items on special and he saw a lot of new faces in his shop.
“It’s probably doubled our traffic,” he said.
Sales were good, he said, and most of the people coming in seemed to be having a good time. The garage-sale event, he said, seemed to be well received.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Tetzlaff said.
Among those shopping around the town was Bella Vista resident Paul Poulides. “Fantastic idea,” he said. But while a map was available online, he said, he would prefer to see a printed map. Because there were so many points marked, he said, navigating with the web-based map was impossible — and Bella Vista is a good place to have a map.
“You know how you can get lost here,” Poulides said.
Another shopper, Missouri resident Terrisa Evans, was out with her daughter, Julie Prenger, of Rogers, and granddaughter, Adilynn Evans.
She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, she said, but got a great price on baby-related items.
“I filled my trunk for about $20,” she said.
Prenger said this was a good chance to spend time with her family and pick up some useful things — including some camping gear she purchased. The weather was perfect and all the sellers were friendly, she said.
“I left work early so I could get outside in this beautiful weather,” she said.