By MARIE DONOVAN , Sun Correspondent
Maria Bayles, who co-owns the Downtown Lowell Thrift Store with her husband, Roy, got her business career started by working at a clothing store her mother owns in Ecuador. SUN/BOB WHITAKER
LOWELL -- More condominiums in downtown Lowell means more foot traffic. And a Malden husband-and-wife team with several years in the thrift-store business is looking to take advantage of that.
A new 2,500-square-foot shop, aptly named Downtown Lowell Thrift Store, sells jewelry and what owner Roy Bayles describes as “lower end” everyday household goods and electronics, including DVDs, CDs, cell phones and video games.
Business has been brisk since the 24 Merrimack St. store opened on July 5, he said.
“The customers really like the store;
we do changes every week,” Maria Bayles said.
Roy Bayles said he purchases merchandise from house cleanouts, flea markets, antiques stores and even eBay. Jewelry sales so far have included diamonds, 18-karat gold, topaz, sapphires and costume pieces and items. Prices range from $1 to $350.
“Jewelry is our No. 1 seller by far,” Bayles said.
Handbags by designers like Louis Vuitton and Coach fetch about $60, he said. The shop and its consignors share a 50-50 split on sales.
Bayles, 26, a Wilmington native who now lives in Malden, said he was drawn to Lowell's reputation as an “up-and-coming city,” with its downtown condo boom.
“There's a lot of walking traffic,” Bayles said. “It's an exciting place to be and be a part of the community.”
Consignors have the option of donating their proceeds to either the American Cancer Society or Children's Hospital, Bayles said.
While business has been good to date, Bayles was disappointed in the city's discontinuation of downtown bus routes, saying it has decreased his clientele and that of other retail operations.
The resale business is very much a family affair for the Bayles. Roy's sister Jen owns the Woburn Center Thrift Store and his father, Joe, worked for 20 years as an antiques auctioneer.
“I grew up doing auctions,” Bayles said.
Maria Bayles, a native of Ecuador, runs the couple's other shop, Malden Center Thrift Store. The couple also operate The Moving Experts, a moving company based in both Malden and Wilmington. They have nine employees in all, including four at The Downtown Lowell Thrift shop.
The Malden store opened in November and Bayles said the similar names for the three family stores are no coincidence.
“It sells the location and the merchandise,” he said.
Maria Bayles worked at a clothing store her mother owns in Ecuador and as a nanny in Massachusetts. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Quito College.
Maria Bayles said that in addition to jewelry, she sells a lot of women's purses, shoes and compact discs -- particularly country music -- and DVDs.
“We get a different kind of customer in Lowell; teenagers and very young people, 20 years old to 30s,” she said.
More information about the shop is available at www.gotantiques.net.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Monday, August 29, 2005.