Dealer Feature: Odds & Ends, Lesia Williams

Each month we feature our great dealers in our blog, to give a little background on them, how they got started at The Queen, and what trends they are seeing! Meet Lesia Williams, a dealer who has been at the Marietta Queen of Hearts for one and a half years, and is located on Meeting Street, dealer code ODDS. Visit her Facebook page Odds & Ends at Queen of Hearts, to see all of her gorgeous items and Like her page to be updated on new arrivals!

Being a small business is hard in today's retail climate. Being a tiny business is even harder. But at the Queen, sometimes tiny is better and can be a lot of fun! It's very fulfilling to purchase an item to resell and then have a customer buy it, leaving happy and satisfied. It makes me proud to make an item from scratch and have a customer take that home, or better yet give as a gift to a good friend or relative. I love to create and make items for Odds & Ends that others may want to own. I love to search out discards, rejects, and unwanteds to give them a new life. I am fulfilled and proud and get to do what I love. My tiny business lets me do all this. The Queen of Hearts makes it possible for me to have this tiny business, and those are the reasons I love being a dealer.

I became familiar with the Queen from selling vintage jewelry at the East Cobb location, then I was persuaded into becoming a dealer again by a friend. We partnered for a few months until she moved to an antique market closer to her home. Odds & Ends has become my tiny business to run and lots of decisions have to be made all the time, like what types of items to offer - as long as the quality is good, then I like to offer them. I also think it's important to offer a variety - new lines, as well as those that have a "vintage vibe." It's fun to see what works for my customers and what doesn't, and to bring in more of what they like.

I have spent most of my working life in the retail environment and enjoy talking to customers when I come in to add new items. Resale is a wonderful business, as you are reusing and repurposing items that might just be thrown out. Recycling is very important in our environment and I like to reuse instead of having to purchase a brand new item. What I love about the Queen is you can save money on quality items shopping here, it's not just a flea market or junk to sort through. The dealers care about the quality of items they bring in, and making them feel like brand new - we hope our customers feel this way also. My best advice to customers is to try to be a savvy shopper. Buy what you like and make sure it is of good quality and a design that suits you. I like the furniture items I sell to be sturdy, made well and have a stylish look, and am constantly changing and filling my booth.

Stop by and visit me at the Queen of Hearts in Marietta, dealer code ODDS on Meeting St, and Like my page Odds & Ends at Queen of Hearts! I'm always refreshing my booth and filling it with things like vintage jewelry, antiques, and modern items for your home. I'd love to help you find what you're looking for and give these recycled items a new home. - Lesia