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More than 10,000 items are featured in the 2018 Curtain Call consignment sale. (Photo courtesy Curtain Call)
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A sneak peek of items available at the 2018 Curtain Call consignment sale (Photo courtesy Curtain Call)
When it comes to home decor, it’s hard to glance through the pages of magazines and not yearn for that pricey designer look. Since 1999, Curtain Call has been striving to make designer pieces affordable to the masses. What began as a consignment sale on custom window treatments evolved over the years to include furniture, pillows and other home accessories.
The 2018 sale, which opens to the public Friday, Feb. 23, began with a bit of a snag. After six years, Angie Furbee, who runs Curtain Call along with two partners, was disappointed to find out that the space they had been using at the Canterbury Shopping Center on Patterson Avenue was no longer available. However, after scouting options, she scored the former Macy’s department store inside Regency Mall. This means that the sale, which began in a 2,000-square-foot space nearly 20 years ago, for the first time will encompass 50,000 square feet. Several hundred vendors are consigning more than 10,000 items.
New this year, the sale has been extended to two weeks (Feb. 23-March 11), and, beginning March 7, all items will be discounted progressively, starting at 10 percent off and increasing to 50 percent off on the final day.
What sets Curtain Call apart, Furbee says, is the quality of the items for sale, from showroom pieces from interior design firms to decor left over from homeowners redecorating, designer pieces ranging from traditional to modern. There are deep discounts on items, she says, such as a $750 lamp available for $50.
Curtain Call also strays from the traditional consignment sale model by having everything staged within mini vignettes. Buyers entering the sales space will see rooms already designed with furniture and accessories. “This is like an interior designer showcase,” Furbee says. Some items for sale are brand-new, and the vignettes demonstrate how to mesh old and new to create an on-trend look.
Sustainability is a natural result of Curtain Call, according to Furbee. “Rather than throwing things away, we’re giving them a new home and giving them a new life,” she says.
Designer handbags have also been added to the mix this year. “We wanted to add a different twist, and some of these bags are just beautiful, artistic pieces of art,” Furbee says.
Curtain Call also contributes to the local community. Once the sale is complete, unsold pieces are donated to CARITAS and Habitat for Humanity.
Numerous volunteers assist with the Curtain Call event. “We have a great team of volunteers," many of whom have helped out for more than a decade, and "each year we continue to add on more,” Furbee says
Even though Curtain Call organizers receive numerous requests to conduct the sale more than once a year (in its early years there were two Curtain Call sales annually), but logistics and the labor required make it impossible, Furbee says. She hopes others will begin following the Curtain Call model in their own localities.
“It’s hard for me to believe there’s no other business that does what we do in the whole country. We get calls from all over the U.S. all the time,” she says. “It is a consignment sale, but it ends up this beautiful showcase of designer items, both old and new, modern and traditional.”
Curtain Call 2018 will take place Feb. 23-March 11 at the Macy's women's store in Regency Mall, 1420 N. Parham Road. Visit their website for hours and more information.
