We came, we spa, we conquered!

Greetings!  Don't you love how I spend my Saturday  nights, guys?  When you're a Storage Hero, you do what you gotta do!  I don't feel so lame though, because Brian and I did a "Diamond Dash" through the city of New Orleans today (it was like a scavenger hunt kind of deal), and we RAN for 2 hours.  Literally ran.  So, the couch was calling me!

Anyways... A few weeks ago we were at auction and there were a few auctions going on that day, including some that Auction Hunters (yes, THE Auction Hunters) were shooting episodes at, and so we were a little nervous about which particular auctions to pick. We decided in the end that although it was more fun & exciting to go to where the TV people were, it was not what we do.  What we do is try to buy good units at good prices.  Period.  End of story.  If we happen to run into something cool along the way, so be it-- but we're not going to run around trying to get on a TV show if it costs us money or time. In this case, we used the hype to our advantage and went to a different auction.  There were only 4 or 5 bidders there, 3 newbies and one of our regular competitors.  4 or 5 bidders is a lot better than the usual 12-20, so we were thrilled.  There was only one unit up for grabs, which was not so great odds, but we've bought at this facility several times before and have always come out on top.  It's where we purchased our "Purple Heart" unit, most memorably--  it is in a unique area and has a lot of unique clientele.

When the doors to this unit opened, it took everything I had in me not to make an audible gasp.  It was a full spa and salon. I was so excited and I knew Brian knew it.  I didn't even have to look at him before throwing my first bid (something I rarely ever do-- I almost always confirm that it's something he wants).  It was that good.  I knew it, and Brian knew it too. Unfortunately for us, our competitor realized it also.  (Fortunately, no one else did--  which surprises me not, it was a bunch of men.  Call that sexist, I call it the truth.) -- Our competitor was also a man, but he's been in the business so long that I'm sure at some point he sold a salon or ran into someone who was looking for something along those lines.  He had to have known the shelving alone was worth SOMETHING-- I just don't know if he particularly had a buyer for the rest of it.

If you guys remember the videos from our special "50th unit" blog-  you'll remember that we unearthed a TON of salon quality hair and nail products in that unit.  We had sold all of it very quickly and we still had all of those ladies in our rolodex, so we were pretty confident that we could sell this unit to one of those contacts.   That, combined with how good everything looked, kept me bidding.

I don't remember much from the bidding because it went so fast, but Brian told me that I didn't even let the competitor finish uttering his bids before I'd up him again.  He was bidding up in $5 increments, and I was bidding up in $25-$50 increments.  Eventually he threw up a last ditch effort, another sad little $5 bid (folks, when you're dealing with HUNDREDS of dollars, the only thing a $5 bid tells me is that you're a terrible bluffer -- it's like a Girl Scout trying to play at the World Series of Poker) -- and when he made the bid, he actually uttered the words that no bidder should EVER utter -- "this is my last one, after this I give up" --  I knew I had him, and only upped him $5 at the end... after all, why waste money? ;)

When I say that it was an entire salon, it was... EVERYTHING you could possibly need to run this type of business.  There were open and closed signs,  sandwich boards displaying services, fixtures, displays, pedicure tables, manicure tables, shelving with the prices already built on, baskets, products, wax pots, nail dryers, a massage table, items and machines for facials, etc.  There was even a cash register, credit card terminal, and point of sale equipment.  It was new, it was quality, and it was PRISTINE.  It literally looked like the salon/spa was packed up the day before and neatly placed into the storage unit.  They even still had their phone number on a lot of the signs.  They even had the salon decorations, including Bonsai trees.

Here are some pictures:

Pier 1 shelving, wax pots, and services sign:

Open/Closed Hours sign:

Another Open/Closed sign:

Pier 1 shelving with more pictures of machines, eyebrow magnifier lamp, and manicure table

Nail dryer:

Nail dryer and wax-pots:

Towel warmer, Sanitizer, and products

Another open sign and sanitizer:

Massage table and greeting card rack:

Close-up of the magnifier lamp:

Bag of credit card machines and wires:

Credit card receipt printer:

Box of gift baggies:

Another shot of massage table:

 Another wax-pot:

Another towel warmer:

The fire/waterproof safe:

More spa gift goodies:

Gel nail products:

Me inside this unit... you can TELL I was excited!

Another Open sign:

A better shot of the bonsai trees and pedicure table:

Loofahs:

What's even better is that the salon had tons and tons of gift sets, spa sets, cosmetics, nail files, and lots of cute little presents that any woman would love still wrapped in shrink wrap.  They also had a greeting card business, so the entire rack (as mentioned and pictured above) of 110 greeting cards was in there as well-- with .99 price tags on each of them!

Everything was so clean and easy to move-- I think we were in and out of there in 40 minutes.

We were so excited after this unit that we went to Drago's and treated ourselves to many charbroiled oysters!  YUM!  (Oh, if Drago's wants to become a Storage Heroes sponsor, we will not object AT ALL!)

And, although the oysters were AMAZING, that's not even the best part!  The best part about this entire unit is the contacts we were able to make.  I put an ad up on Craigslist, and within a day or two we were introduced to Dawn who is opening up her new shop in Metairie.   We went there the other day to deliver everything and it is absolutely beautiful.   She's amazing and we're thrilled to know her-- AND we look forward to working with her again.

Here's a copy of Dawn's business card-- make sure to call her with any of your esthetic needs-- she's open by appointment only now and will be fully open in just a few short weeks.

 She's conveniently located and her prices are VERY reasonable.  I plan on being one of her first customers.

Here's a link also to her Facebook page:  Skin Appeal Personalized Skin Care

Another Storage Heroes success story!  I love it!  Dawn, we wish you the best of luck, and I'll see you soon for a facial!

UPDATE:   Dawn has actually offered readers of this blog a special 10% off discount on any services she offers.   Mention coupon code "STORAGE" to receive your discount.  Thanks, Dawn!