It has been a decade since Tanya Bruchacek opened the doors to a concept which was new to the community of Oakdale. In October 2006, Bruchacek, along with her sister Sandra Reed introduced Oakdale to TAGS Consignment, A Funky, Chic, Resale Boutique.
Now known best throughout the community simply as ‘TAGS,’ the retail business got its start on North Yosemite Avenue. One year later it moved to its permanent home at 1220 E. F St., Oakdale.
“My sister was already thinking of moving here and she was in transition from adult teaching,” Bruchacek said of choosing Oakdale as the home of the then new business. “I said I was already thinking of doing this, so come on board.”
The founder shared she recognized a need for a business such as TAGS in Oakdale, as her home of Sonora was saturated with consignment type businesses at the time.
Bruchacek did extensive research prior to opening the East F Street business, utilizing books, on-line resources as well as meeting with fellow consigners throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“I did a lot of legwork,” she said of the early planning stages. “Product was probably the easiest versus the space.
“I felt we were warmly received,” she added of opening the new business. “I still feel warmly received. I have a great repeat customer base. They’ve known me the entire 10 years.”
TAGS currently has 1,500 active clients and 4,000 clients that can add to the inventory at any given time.
Ten years into the business, Bruchacek shared consignment has been slow growing in that people are still catching on to the idea of sustainability. During the time of the business launch the buzz words ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ were just taking root as a movement.
“I didn’t know as much about the green factor then,” she recalled of the 2006 beginning. “I knew about value. Value was important to me, which is a natural progression to green which is very valuable to me now.”
As Reduce, Reuse, Recycle gained steam, so too did a movement of not buying new for an entire year, Bruchacek noted.
“That whole process started, which people are still picking up on,” she said. “Ten years ago it was baby steps to the movement of not buying something new, now we’re having a movement of zero waste.”
As the business owner speaks, her passion for zero waste, humanity as a whole and preserving the planet become more evident. Consigners at TAGS receive 50 percent of the sale price, minus a minimal processing fee. As the business has evolved, so too has its owner, sharing that sale events have been added to the business in the past 10 years.
A Super Bowl half off event was once the only sale event hosted by the re-saler.
“I felt like that wasn’t helping the movement which was sustainability,” she said. “It was time to have some fun and that’s where the sales came from. It started with just two sales a year.”
Clients have the option of returning for the items that don’t sell or having them donated to a non-resale location, benefitting those in need.
“The value is that you are actually supporting your neighbors,” Bruchacek said of her unique business. “Literally you are supporting your neighbors. If you buy something, that purchase goes to give a child a jacket or shoes or a Halloween costume or maybe a blazer for work.
“I think that my most favorite thing that it does,” she said of consignment, “is that it goes to the people who need it the most, whether they purchase it or it goes to donation.”
Ten years later, with a recession behind them, a city growth which has both spiked as well as gone stagnant and begins to climb again, what does Bruchacek feel makes their business continue to thrive?
“We’re therapists, we have a lot of empathy,” she said of helping clients part with their things. “We really do care that your items are going to go back out into the world, whether it’s sold or a donation.”
Variety is also a key component.
“What makes TAGS successful, is you have about 4,000 people personally shopping for you,” she concluded. “That’s the true success or why people continue to come in.”
