A New Look

Darlene Richert specializes in highend furniture and accessories at her 30,000-square-foot consignment store, Avery Lane, which she opened

A New Look

Consignment shops are perfect for post-pandemic redecorating

By Laura Latzko

he consignment furniture industry in Scottsdale has been booming as more people move to the Valley or discover they want to redesign their home after quarantining in it for a year. The Scottsdale Airpark area is a prime location to find consignment stores that fit with different styles and themes.

Despite challenges during COVID-19, these local shops continued to serve new and returning customers.

Scottsdale consignment shops sell gently used items for every room in the house.

Airpark shops’ buyers and consignors can find or sell sofas, end and coffee tables, dining room tables, bookshelves, armchairs, artwork and a plethora of other items with which to decorate a home.

Local female entrepreneurs own many of these shops. During the pandemic, they found ways to not only survive but expand.

Stevans Fine Furniture Consignment

Amanda Baldwin is the woman behind Stevans Fine Furniture Consignment, which boasts an Old World, Spanish Colonial, Tuscan vibe.

In the business for 20 years, Baldwin is carrying on a three-generation tradition in the fine furniture industry. Her grandmother owned a shop from the ’90s to 2007, which Baldwin helped manage.

Her grandmother helped her develop an appreciation and passion for high-end furniture, accessories and artwork.

Baldwin opened her first Stevans location eight years ago, but moved to its space on Paradise Lane last August.

Baldwin says along with its central location, the new building fits better with the Stevans aesthetic.

“I feel like the building we were in before wasn’t a good reflection of what was inside. I feel like we finally have a building that the outside mirrors what the inside looks like. It has an Old World, Mediterranean charm to it. There’s a lot of wrought iron, high ceilings, arches. It’s just a beautiful space,” Baldwin says.

The business has expanded from a 10,000- to 22,000-square-foot showroom with the new building that allows her to carry items like a 6-by-5-foot crystal chandelier. Another space houses the Gallery Shops, subleased to dealers who sell items such as antiques, gifts, contemporary furniture, artwork and Native American home décor and jewelry.

“Having more dealers in one space brings more clientele and a diversity of clientele,” says Baldwin, who maintained her staff during the pandemic.

Stevans’ inventory includes chandeliers, four-poster and canopy beds,

nightstands, armoires, vases, candleholders, dining room tables, dinner sets, plants, fine china, mirrors, desks, rugs, game tables and arm and club chairs.

The shop often has rare items like a handinlaid table from Italy, a large-scale bronze fountain adorned with cherubs, a pair of 14-foot-tall urns on pedestals from Belgium and a hand-carved, four-column mirror.

Baldwin has found demand is especially high for beds, sofas and dining room tables.

“They were spending more time on their sofa,” Baldwin says

“They are having more family gatherings. The same with the dining room table. More people are using spaces they never used before.”

Although Baldwin has a Spanish contemporary-style home, she has showcased artwork, furniture, crystal chandeliers and bronzes in her home. Her grandmother was a collector of bronzes, original artwork, sterling and fine crystals.

In September, Stevans ventured into furniture manufacturing. Baldwin’s grandmother’s shop manufactured furniture items such as sofas, ottomans, chairs and beds.

Baldwin has recently noticed a growing need for patio furniture, where demand has exceeded supply.

“The patio furniture that we were getting, the quality was there, but we weren’t getting enough of it. And we weren’t getting it quick enough. So, we decided to start manufacturing our own line. I’ve always had a passion to be a furniture designer. I thought this was a good entrance into that,” Baldwin says.

Stevans Fine Furniture Consignment

7995 E. Paradise Lane, Scottsdale 480-607-0143, stevansaz.com

Lost + Found Resale Interiors

Jill Cooper is a longtime lover of the hunt for distinctive, collectible furniture items.

Now, as the face of Lost + Found Resale Interiors, Cooper sells a range of furniture and accessories, including mirrors, lamps, clocks, candlesticks, vases, chests, recliners, nightstands, bookshelves, beds, dining room tables and chairs, stools, salad and dessert plates, chandeliers, sectionals, loveseats, armchairs, consoles, loveseats, coffee tables, desks, rugs, patio benches and bird baths.

Customers can find original artwork, including paintings, sculptures, busts, wood signs and screens.

“I am personally eclectic, so I love to bring in weird, different things,” Cooper says.

Many of Lost + Found’s customers own Airbnb spaces, so obtaining quality furniture is important. The items are priced at a percentage of what they go for retail.

Cooper says customers can expect to find high-quality brands that will last.

“If you get quality dining chairs, they are not going to rock and wiggle in three months,” Cooper says. “There are things that you really should think about what you are buying.”

Since it opened, Lost +Found has continued to expand.

Last year, the shop moved to a new space on Greenway Hayden Loop that is just under 9,000 square feet. It is almost 4,000 square feet larger than the previous showroom.

Cooper says the space is more visible and allows for more items to be on display. It also offers improved lighting.

She and her staff look for transitional pieces with clean lines that fit with different styles, but also accept more unique items, such as vintage or wrought-iron pieces.

At Lost + Found, customers can find large Carrara marble tables, an orange midcentury modern chair and peacock dining room chairs.

Cooper says that having a mix of items appeals to customers with different tastes.

“I like to keep it where there is something for everyone,” she says.

Cooper says that they can buy what they need in her store, in almost new condition and at lower prices.

“You get to a point of no return. You don’t know what to do,” Cooper says. “You don’t know whether to get mad and cancel your order, but you are never going to get it again. So, that’s why the consignment business is just booming. You can look in here and get the stuff that you are trying to get.”

Cooper has a dedicated customer base that has been consigning and buying from her for up to nine years. Many of the people who consign with Cooper are designers who consign items.

One designer recently brought a whole warehouse of products to the store, and another individual had Lost + Found pack up and consign a whole household of items.

Estate companies will also call Lost + Found about pieces that they have, and Cooper will sometimes find items during her own shopping adventures.

Cooper says over the years, she had developed an eye for spotting quality pieces.

“You just know. You can’t really even teach it. … I think I taught myself,” Cooper says. “As far as what works in the store, you know what works in the store because you see it sell every day, and you see what everyone is looking for.”

Many of the items that are consigned have rich histories behind them, which can make the pieces more appealing to buyers. Cooper will often hear about how pieces were owned by a consignor’s grandmother or came from another country, such as France.

In the past, the shop has had items from a dressing room used by Beyoncé.

Although some sports stars and celebrities don’t want the public to know about their connection to consigned items, Cooper occasionally can share information.

“If I think it would matter to a guy, I will say this football player used to have this in his house,” Cooper says.

As the face of Lost + Found Resale Interiors, Jill Cooper sells a range of furniture and

accessories. (Submitted photo)

Lost + Found Resale Interiors

15530 N. Greenway Hayden Loop, Suite 100, Scottsdale 480-588-7006 lostandfoundresale.com

Avery Lane

With her “Paris apartment”-style consignment shop, Darlene Richert helps customers find unique, high-end furniture and accessories for their first, second or third homes as well as their rental properties.

Richert, who worked in the private golf industry for 25 years, started Avery Lane in 2012 when she decided to pursue a new career path.

Since it was founded, the shop has expanded multiple times, most recently in March 2020, when she added a third showroom. The store now has 30,000 square feet of space, after starting at 12,000 square feet.

Richert says having a larger space allows her to accept more items.

“There are so many people on any given month that I have to say no to because I’m just restricted by my physical location,” she says.

“If you look at the Showrooms 2 and 3, those represent the people I used to have to say no to. It also allows me to take a few chances.

“I took on a grand piano earlier this year. I think that’s the third one I’ve taken. Now, I can do things like that. I’ve considered a few billiard tables, which I hadn’t done in the past. … I have so much more wall space to be able to represent a significant art collection.”

Avery Lane sells chandeliers, dining room

Avery Lane sells chandeliers, dining room tables and chairs, sofas, beds, dressers, desks, rugs, patio furniture, vases and original artwork.

(Photo by Pablo Robles)

tables and chairs, sofas, beds, dressers, desks, rugs, patio furniture, vases and original artwork.

Many individuals consign items that they have acquired during their travels to other countries or that they have inherited.

The shop recently had interesting pieces such as 13-foot silver leather sofas and entire lighting packages with chandeliers, sconces and other lights from two homes.

Throughout the pandemic, Richert kept her staff of around 14 employees. She plans to add on one or two more people to help with tasks such as handling the 1,200 to 1,500 items a month that need to be inventoried.

She and her staff try to provide personalized service, including offering advice on how well pieces will fit in customers’ homes.

“People bring in a picture of their dining room and say, ‘I’m thinking of changing this chandelier to that chandelier. What do you think?’ We will definitely give those types of opinions. I do that every single day, 20 times a day,” Richert says.

“We tell people to bring fabrics in from the couch that is across the room. We’ll help you find chairs that will match it. People bring in the planks of their wood floors to match the dining room.”

Personally, Richert’s home has a similar style as the store, with a blend of Old World and contemporary pieces.

“It looks curated, like you’ve traveled to different places. I use the example of the flat upstairs that got vacated, and they left a few pieces behind. You salvage them and put them in your apartment,” Richert says.

Over the years, Richert has acquired furniture pieces from the store for her home. She recently purchased modern chairs and a white leather sofa when she overhauled her living room with a more contemporary look.

Her home also boasts volumes of old books by Charles Dickens and a substantial contemporary art collection of thoughtprovoking pieces by different artists.

Back to Avery Lane, the shop is known for its selection of high-end contemporary and traditional artwork. In the past, it has sold pieces from Pablo Picasso and Dutch masters.

Richert says that consignment stores are alternatives to selling art through galleries or auctions.

“What does somebody do with a really substantial art collection when they are going into assisted living or they decide to move back to Chicago to their main house?” she says.

“They don’t want a second house anymore and have 20 pieces of art. There really is a gap on where they can go. Avery Lane has been a resource for people who are changing out their art collections or who are just downsizing or needing to liquidate.”

Inside of the shop, customers will also find Pagoda Lane, a boutique that sells home décor, clothing, flower arrangements, candles and accessories such as handbags and jewelry.

Like other consignment stores in the area, Avery Lane is seeing a mixture of new and returning customers. Newer shoppers are, generally, folks who have moved to Arizona from another state and need or want upscale accessories on a budget.

With the boom in the housing market, Avery Lane is seeing a lot of people who are wanting to consign as they sell their homes quickly, too.

“We are getting excellent-quality furniture this time of the year. Because of the real estate market, people are selling their houses top dollar. They are downsizing, or they are moving to something that is in a completely different style. So, we are getting a lot of furniture,” Richert says. 

Avery Lane

15613 N. Greenway Hayden Loop, Scottsdale 480-991-0700 averylanehome.com