Carol Jones (left) and Heather Fisher of Salvage Sisters in Old Town.
Turning ugly to cool Salvage Sisters recycles furniture By Heidi Sampson Photos by John Cross
T
he possibility of starting a business had been tossed around many different times as Carol Jones, founder and coowner of the Salvage Sisters, regularly discussed potential business ideas with close-knit friends. However, the turning point from general discussion to actualization began with a dumpster full of good quality used furniture pieces in Madison, WI. As luck would have it, Carol and her husband had rented a U-Haul to move their two children to a college dorm in Madison. After unpacking the U-Haul, Carol was struck by the massive amounts of furniture lying unclaimed and unwanted by the curb. “They have what’s known as a homeless
night out there,” Carol said. “It’s where all the college kids have to be out of their dorms and yet, they can’t move into their new apartments till the next day. The students have no method available to them for storage of their stuff. Since parents can’t come and students don’t have any place to go, the end result is that a lot of really good furniture gets tossed to the curb. It was a great starter supply for Salvage Sisters. Since we’d taken a U-Haul there and were essentially bringing it back empty, we decided to fill it up with the furniture nobody wanted.”
Spotlight
20 • March 2014 • MN Valley Business
••••••