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Business focuses on helping others
Photo
Sharetta Stokes shows two of the clothing selections available at her new business, Ms. Charolette’s ‘Resale’ Boutique. Stokes named the consignment store in honor of her late sister, Charolette Stokes Ware, who died of breast cancer in 2012. The store also hosts a monthly breast-cancer support-group meeting.
YOUNGSTOWN
When Sharetta Stokes was considering opening a new business, profit wasn’t her only motivation.
She wanted to offer a place that was safe, where “all women could be comfortable,” and do something in honor of her late sister, Charolette Stokes Ware, who died in August 2012 after a 41/2-year battle with breast cancer, Stokes said.
The result was Ms. Charolette’s ‘Resale’ Boutique at 3825 Market St.
So in addition to offering consignment clothing, shoes and other items, the store also hosts a monthly breast-cancer support-group meeting.
The store also has a mirrored picture of Ware on the wall, along with a breast cancer cross donated by St. Elizabeth Health Center staff for the store’s opening, she said.
“We leave this space open for groups who want to use it for meetings,” Stokes said. “We don’t charge them anything.”
The store also already has hosted events for Community Corrections Association and the American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to provide instruction on dressing for interviews, she said.
There are few other retail businesses in the section of Market Street where Ms. Charolette’s is located.
“We wanted to be here. We wanted to make a difference,” Stokes said. “We’re an urban business, and we’re in an urban location.”
MauRasia Stevens, who is working for Stokes over the summer, said she likes working at the store because of Stokes focus on helping other people. Stevens knows Stokes through church. Both attend Fellowship Tabernacle Christian Center.
“People also don’t have to pay a lot to look nice,” she said.
Many of the store’s customers have been recommended by people who have consigned items, Stevens said.
Stokes said low costs are part of her business plan. She prices items low so they sell quickly. The sale price is split evenly between Stokes and the person who consigned it.
“I tell people when they consign items to me if you make money, I make money,” she said.
The store’s goal is to have nice items that women can purchase for a dollar or buy a nice church outfit for $15, Stokes said. The store also carries sizes that are not easy to find.
“We carry from size 0 to 30,” she said. “In fact we can’t keep size 30 on the shelves. It goes out as soon as it comes in.”
Stokes has had some help from the city in opening the business.
She received business training through an entrepreneurship program at an economic development agency.
She also was approved for a grant of $10,000 from the city.