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Northwest Women’s Show brings over 20,000 shoppers.
By Lora Marini Baker
For the third consecutive year, the Seattle Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) created a “pop-up” boutique at the annual Northwest Women’s Show in western Washington, now in its 25th year, which hosts exhibits, entertainment and demonstrations in fashion, fitness and food. This year, it attracted more than 20,000 attendees during the three-day event in early March.
All clothing, accessories and merchandise in the pop-up boutique were for sale, culled from the store’s current collection and donated by community members. The 2,000-sq.-ft. temporary boutique featured a variety of the store’s best merchandise.
“We brought a careful selection of clothing and merchandise to the show,” Northwest ARC Administrator Captain Timothy Rockey said. “This is an opportunity to introduce The Salvation Army ARC and Family Store to a new audience, and we wanted to surprise them with the quality of our merchandise.”
Along with introducing shoppers to The Salvation Army Family Store, including discount coupons to the local store, the pop-up boutique also reminded shoppers that their purchases supported life-saving programs.
“We continually meet people who don’t realize that the Family Store supports the ARC program,” Rockey said. “This is another reminder of The Salvation Army and ARC missions.”
Samples of New Day coffee—an ARC brand resulting from a direct trade coffee project between The Salvation Army and coffee growers in Vietnam—were offered and 12-ounce bags (whole beans or ground) were sold for $5.50.
In addition to ARC staff, volunteers from Northwest Divisional Headquarters, the ARC Advisory Council and others worked alongside program beneficiaries and alumni to keep the sales area organized and filled with merchandise, helping the pop-up boutique to exceed its previous year’s sales.
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