Poole eligible to run - Index of - The Cherokee Ledger-News

20 the cherokee ledger-news Business november 7, 2012
SHOW ME
OFF AGAIN:
FROM PAGE 19
“We’re doing really well for
only being open for four
months,” she said.
While baby gear is the most
prominent merchandise
she sells, Krumwiede said
Show Me Off Again also sells
children’s clothing, women’s
clothing, and even accepts
men’s clothing.
“Sometimes we don’t even
get an item posted online before
it sells,” she said of the
popularity of baby items.
Since the store is consignment,
the seller receives
50 percent of what the item
sells for, while the store
receives the other 50 percent.
Krumwiede said they currently
have about 100 consigners,
who she said in-turn often
become customers themselves
buying merchandise.
No appointments are required
to be a consigner.
For more information, call
the store at (770) 313-3313.
From StaFF reportS
nnn
State, county jobless rates drop
Both the state and county unemployment
rates have dropped again, according to
statistics recently released by the Georgia
Department of Labor.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment
rate dropped to 9 percent in September,
down two-tenths of a percentage point from
9.2 percent August.
“The unemployment rate dropped in
September because Georgia had the fewest
new claims for unemployment insurance
benefits in five years, since before the start
of the Great Recession,” said State Labor
Commissioner Mark Butler.
The state unemployment rate was 9.8 percent
in September 2011.
Cherokee County’s unemployment rate now
stands at 6.8 percent, down two percentage
points from the August unemployment rate
of 7 percent. The county’s jobless rate was
8.1 percent last September.
On the state level, the number of initial
claims in September declined to 39,564, down
by 6,161 from 45,725 in August — the fewest
since 32,139 were filed in September 2007.
Most of the decline came in administrative
and support services, retail trade, health care
and social assistance, educational services,
Map provided By the GdoL
Cherokee County’s unemployment rate
dropped in September, to 6.8 percent. The
counties in yellow denotes a jobless rate of less
than 8.6 percent; the green indicates at rate of
8.6 percent to 10.9 percent.
and accommodations and food services.
While the state lost 400 jobs from August to
September, it actually gained 61,800 jobs since
the 3.87 million in September of 2011, climbing
to 3.94 million. The growth sectors were
professional and business services, up 23,500;
trade, transportation and warehousing, up
FROM PAGE 19
“When you shop consignment,
you get a lot of nice wood pieces,
where if you go to other stores, all
that’s MDF (engineered wood),
and they’re charging more than
what we’re charging,” Weber said.
She said the popularity of TV
shows like “Storage Wars” also
pique people’s interest in finding
a hidden treasure type of item.
The White Picket Fence is located
at 3592 Cumming Hwy. (Ga.
20) in Canton, and Weber said
business was “gangbusters” in
the beginning.
“They’ve really
embraced
me in the community
here,
and this stretch
of area here on
(Ga.) 20 that I’m
in, there’s really
no consignment,
WHITE PICKET FENCE:
so people were ecstatic about it.”
Through her time in operation,
Weber said she’s changed a
few things. She used to consign
clothes in year one, but when that
didn’t prove to sell well, she decided
to stick to what has become the
base of the business, items for the
home. The economy has resulted
in unpredictable sales at times,
she said.
“Lately, with the economy as
tough as it is, it has gone up and
down, but I’ve talked with other
consignment stores, and it’s the
same thing as far as every month
23,100; education and health care, up 13,000;
leisure and hospitality, up 9,100; manufacturing,
up 8,700; and technology, up 1,100.
“We’re continuing to see gains in manufacturing,
and a lot of the credit for that goes
to the great job the state’s Department of
Economic Development and Gov. Nathan
Deal have been doing, not only in attracting
new manufacturers, but helping to hold on
to the ones that we have,” Butler said. “Last
month’s gain in manufacturing jobs was
the largest over-the-month gain that we’ve
seen for this time period since 1994.” The
number of manufacturing jobs from August
to September grew 1,900. The August to
September growth in 1994 was 2,000.
Another positive sign, the GDOL says, is
the growth in Georgia’s labor force, which
climbed to 4.78 million in September, up by
18,126, or four-tenths of a percentage point,
from 4.76 million in August. The state’s workforce
totaled 4.73 million in September 2011.
The number of long-term unemployed workers
declined for the fifth consecutive month,
dropping 8,400 from August to 208,800 in September,
the fewest since 204,700 were recorded
in March 2010. The long-term unemployed,
those out of work for more than 26 weeks,
make up 48.6 percent of those unemployed in
Georgia, the lowest percent in two years.
‘They’ve really embraced
me in the community here.’
Nancy Weber
Co-owner, White Picket Fence
varies,” she said. “I recently took
on a partner two months ago.
Her name is Amy Frazer.”
Frazer paints some of the furniture,
specializing in shabby chic
items, which have become popular
with customers.
With 400 consigners, Weber said
she’s thankful for their loyalty;
when she first opened, she had
just five. Those wishing to sell
their wares receive 50 percent of
the sale amount, while the business
receives the other 50 percent.
Operating out
of an 85-year-old
house, Weber
said she always
knew that’s the
type of place she
was meant to
be, not in a strip
mall.
“During the
winter, we bake cookies and have
coffee, so it smells delicious,” she
said. “We have two floors, we use
the basement now, too. People love
when they come in and get that
warm, fuzzy feeling.”
Items for sale include furniture,
lamps, rugs, pictures and other
home-related knick-knacks.
“We take gently used items;
we look everything over,” Weber
said. “We don’t take anything
with spots or stains, tears —
nothing that smells like smoke.”
For more information, call
(770) 720-1334.