Lucky with Leather and Trumpets

Yard sales, thrift shops and... Sam's Club. Yep.


Saturday morning I visited a community yard sale and came upon these bags. First is a Wilsons Leather briefcase, the bag for my business future. Retail value's $300 but I paid an astonishing one dollar. My model's older than the one featured here and of much better quality despite years of wear. The case has a smooth and rich mahogany tone and the strap is full-leather.





Next up is the Counterfeit Mailbag from J. Peterman of Lexington, Kentucky. About the size of a standard messenger bag, this sturdy sack of suede is made to last a lifetime. It's listed $329 but only cost me five dollars. While the Wilsons bag will fill business needs, this one will hold my artwork and photography supplies.





In visiting a nearby thrift shop Saturday afternoon, I discovered two identical pair of shell cordovan shoes, size 8D. Very unfortunately for me, they don't fit. However, both pair of Allen Edmonds Randolph shoes will soon be in the CKC Shoppe. New ones cost $550, these won't.

What's as unbelievable as finding those bags and shoes? Finding this chair and ottoman set for $104.10. Do you ever get a feeling you're meant to see something? While doing some grocery shopping at Sam's Club yesterday I strolled over to the furniture section and immediately spotted this D'Oro Lennox set.

I figured a zero was missing from the price tag, but I was happy to be incorrect. It turns out only the floor model was available and Sam's has to clear product very quickly. After getting the set home I searched online for the original price , only to find the cheapest listing at around $1300. I'm still bewildered.

The only difficult thing was unhinging my bedroom door to fit the chair through.

Thanks to yard sale fate I've decided to take up trumpeting. For $15 I purchased this beautiful and rare Bundy Selmer designed by Vincent Bach. Time to work a big band groove.



Best of luck to you all,
Scott Alexander