By Liz Gordon-Hancock
The Et Cetera Shop, 111 S. Main St.,  held its second annual quarter week sale this past week. All clothing, excluding scarves, underwear, hats, purses and hats, cost a quarter (plus tax).

The Icon can report that the Et Cetera Shop sold 5,195 items of clothing during the week-long sale. Adult clothing was definitely the top-seller of the week, averaging over 600 items sold every day, according to Chrissy Lugibihl, store manager.

Despite that high number of items sold, the back of the store is still crammed full of donations, waiting to be sorted and put out for sale. The staff put out between 800 and 1,000 new items of clothing per day.

The sale required four clerks per day to run the cash register, and between six and 10 volunteers sorting items in the back. All of the staff who work at the shop are volunteers, except for the manager, Chrissy Lugibihl. "I love my volunteers so much! They are the heart and soul of this organization," said Lugibihl, who has been manager of the Et Cetera Shop since 2003.

Many volunteers put in extra hours this week, but were happy to do so. "We have been busy for one solid week," said Dennis Morrison, a regular volunteer.

"It's exciting, because people are coming in and are so enthusiastic." said Dottie Long, another regular volunteer. She sees the shop as an outlet for people who are worried about the economic climate, that the shop's low prices gives people a sense of empowerment, whether they have a small or large income.

The quarter sale is a way to help people with back-to-school shopping, and attract new customers. According to Lugibihl, the buyers are "All ages - tiny children using money from a birthday or Christmas - to the very elderly," with the most popular ages somewhere between 25 and 70.

Many of the volunteers commented on how much fun it was to be part of such an event. All the volunteers agreed the shop is a great place to work.

June Fields, another weekly volunteer, patiently sorts through and prices the never-ending pile of donated toys. (See picture) The volunteers are very proud of the quality of goods the shop sells and the work that they do.

But the Et Cetera shop does more than just sell gently used clothing and wares. Did you know the shop will accept electrical items, even if they don't work? One of the volunteers, Gene Long, collects any unsellable items that contain metal, including old Christmas lights and lawnmowers, separates the metal and recycles it. He said he'll take "anything with metal or a cord." Thanks to Long's efforts, the Et Cetera Shop has recycled almost 5,000 pounds of metal so far this year.

Everyone working on Saturday (the last day of the sale) declared the quarter week a success.

The Et Cetera shop accepts donations of gently used clothes, shoes, toys, during business hours.

When donating, please remember these things:
1. Please remove garage sale stickers.
2.  Ask yourself this question "would I purchase this item myself?"  Is the item: clean, free of odors, in good shape (not broken)
3.  Please donate items in bags, boxes or containers weighing 40lbs. or less.  If you find it difficult to move, so will we.

Hours are:
Mondays through Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursdays 1 to 5 p.m.
Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.