Posh Whale Upscale Sale: The Passion of Two Wilmington Sisters

Shop or Sell at an annual paradise for kid and baby shoppers and sellers!

The Posh Whale Sale is returning October 23-26, 2019!

Sisters Maranda Tamson and Kara Gaynos didn’t necessarily intend to go into business together. But last year, they took over the popular Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale.

For over a decade, the Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale has been bringing Cape Fear Families a new and unique kind of consignment sale. The focus at Posh Whale is on high quality, brand name, top-condition clothes for kids.

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Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale Wilmington NC
All photography by Justina Johnson Photography

 

A Different Sort of Retailer

“We are so different,” Maranda said of Posh Whale. “We are able to offer parents the opportunity to buy specialty clothing you can’t get at the mall. Unfortunately, despite how much Wilmington has grown, there still isn’t a large selection of high end stores for children.”

Maranda knows the market, too. She and Kara aren’t just the new business owners, they are long-time Wilmington residents and moms themselves.

“We started shopping Posh Whale years ago,” Maranda explained. “We jokingly said to the owners [at the time] that if they were ever interested in selling they should talk to us because we love it so much!”

Two years later, here they are.

As owners, Maranda and Kara are working hard to maintain the essence of Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale, sticking to the basics of the sale that first attracted them as shoppers. All clothes sizes newborn to 4 are still name-brand only, boutique-style clothes.

Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale Wilmington NC

But over the years, Posh Whale Sale has grown fast. At the spring sale, kids clothing will go all the way up to size 14. Clothing sizes 5 to 14 will not have to be name-brand, but they will still be in great condition. The rules are: no stains, no tears, no holes, and current styles.

The Posh Whale fills a niche

“Kids of all ages grow so fast,” Maranda said. “They cycle through clothes so fast, that it is great for parents to be able to ‘recycle’ old clothes but also get new ones in great condition for their kids.”

In addition to clothes for kids ages newborn to 14, Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale will also have gear, toys, board games, dress-up clothes, and books for consignment as well.

The sister duo knows firsthand how busy life can be for parents, too, and now offer a concierge service for those with items to consign and sell. If parents simply don’t have the time to price, tag, and enter all their items, Posh Whale can help. The team will come and pick up the items, then prepare them for the sale (the fee for the concierge service is assessed through a small percentage of the final purchase price).

“I love this,” Maranda explained of the concierge service, “because with the way the world is now, I personally have a safety concern about selling things online. I don’t want strangers to come to my house and know where I live, especially since my kids live there, too. So for Posh Whale Sale, we have found an answer to this and can help give parents safety and security.”

A perennial favorite

There are two sales a year, one in spring and one in fall. Seasonal items (swimsuits in the spring and Halloween costumes in the fall, for example), are available. The sale is usually held over a few days, and dozens of volunteers help each time. Shopping opens at various times, with separate slots for volunteers, consignors, new moms, grandparents, and the general public. On the last day of the sale, most remaining items are offered half-off.

Posh Whale Sale also gives back to the community, allowing them to make the sale days not just about beautiful consigned clothes, but also about a community coming together. For their Spring 2019 sale, for example, items tagged for donation that do not sell will be given to Foster Pantry, and there will be a “Charity Hour” at the sale, where $10 at the door will also be donated to Foster Pantry. Given that over 1,000 shoppers attended the Fall 2018 Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale, shoppers and consignors can make a big impact.

Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale Wilmington NC

As Maranda and Kara count down the days until the Spring 2019 sale (see poshwhalesale.com for all the details), their lives are busy. But for the sisters, it truly is an act of love.

“I love every piece of Posh Whale,” Maranda shared. “I love doing this with my sister, I love a good deal, I love good clothes, and I love being able to connect families in Wilmington.”

Read more about the upcoming Posh Whale Sale!
Learn more about Posh Whale Upscale Consignment Sale by visiting poshwhalesale.com or following them on https://www.facebook.com/ThePoshWhaleUpscaleConsignmentSale/Facebook.

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Allison, the founder of Cape Fear Family Magazine, has a long and diverse background in journalism and publishing that began when she started her own newspaper in fifth grade. Eventually, she went on to the University of Virginia and graduated with distinction in English. A writer for places such as StarNews, Greater Wilmington Business Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Redbook, she believes that words connect and build communities. She has been published in multiple books, including a Chicken Soup for the Soul and a Norton Anthology called The Double Bind. As former Managing Editor for North Brunswick Magazine and South Brunswick Magazine, her love of local magazines blossomed. When she moved to the area from Chapel Hill in 2015 with her husband and their young sons, she yearned for a community to help her take advantage of the area with her active family. Luckily, as a content marketer, SEO-professional and social media manager, she had plenty of experience to allow her to launch Cape Fear Family Magazine. Allison loves to paddleboard, recently tried surfing, loves to travel, and believes that raising kids is a whole lot of fun.