Just Between Friends consignment sale moves to Hopkins Pavilion after a decade at Champions Hall

The team behind Eden Prairie’s Just Between Friends (JBF) consignment sale is gearing up for its spring event May 8-10, fresh off the announcement that the sale will move to the Hopkins Pavilion in Hopkins after a decade at Champions Hall in Eden Prairie.

JBF hosts pop-up sales that offer children’s clothing, toys and other gear at 50 to 90% off retail prices.  

Jeni Crabtree, owner of JBF Eden Prairie, was surprised to hear JBF’s time at Champions Hall – located at 7000 Washington Ave. S. in Eden Prairie – was ending after the venue decided to prioritize sports groups. Crabtree brainstormed other venue options, but the JBF format posed a few problems. It requires 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, and the franchise agreement limits the sale to certain ZIP codes. The length of JBF’s rental needs also added to the complexity.

“Usually, about a week and a half to two weeks is what we’re looking for, and so that was really challenging,” said Crabtree, who lives in Eden Prairie. “Either the places would be too small, or they didn’t do overnight rentals, or they wanted a super-long commitment.”

Crabtree’s history with JBF is what led her to the Hopkins Pavilion. Before purchasing the Eden Prairie franchise in 2020, she owned the Edina franchise. At that time, the Edina territory covered a long, skinny section of the greater Twin Cities from Waconia to St. Paul. The Hopkins Pavilion, 11000 Excelsior Blvd., was one of the few venues that could accommodate the sale within that territory.

Crabtree decided to sell the Edina franchise when she got pregnant with her third child, but before selling, she worked with JBF’s corporate parent to alter the territory boundaries. The changes moved everything west of Highway 169 into the Eden Prairie franchise and everything east into the Edina franchise. She sold the Edina franchise to new owners, who renamed it JBF Bloomington.

Crabtree plans to use the warming house at the Hopkins site for additional sales space for larger items such as baby equipment and outdoor toys.

“People can shop there, just grab the claim ticket but leave the items there, and then go pay for them when they purchase their other stuff in the main part of the arena,” she said.

The first day of the event on May 7 is limited to presale shopping, which gives consignors, staff and paid ticket holders the chance to shop first. First-time parents and grandparents, in addition to “community heroes” like teachers, first responders and military members, may attend the presale day for free. 

The first day of public shopping on May 8 includes $2 admission at the door, but event goers can snag free admission if they register online. Free tickets are also available for the rest of the sale, along with $5 tickets to gain early entry for Half Price Day on May 10.

The change of location also caused Crabtree to reschedule the dates of the sale.

“The original dates that we had were one week later,” she said. But “anybody who had already claimed one of the free tickets, it just transfers to the new sale dates.”

A few consignors who were planning to participate pulled out, but given the short distance between the old and new venues, Crabtree hopes the date change won’t affect too many others. With the location nailed down, she’s hiring staff. Several supervisors, as well as her mother, Joni, help her hire for and manage each event. 

Janis Soule, supervisor with the Eden Prairie sale, has been involved with JBF for over a decade. She’s been a shopper, consignor, volunteer and team lead in addition to her current role. She helps Crabtree with training and scheduling staff, promoting the event and running the floor during the sale.

Along with making many good friends as a staff member, she’s saved a lot of money for her family through JBF. She was drawn to the sales by the pricing and selection. It’s a one-stop shop for Christmas, birthdays, toys and clothes, with the bonus of being able to recoup costs through consigning.

“It’s been a blessing to our family just to have that extra income, rather than just taking everything to Goodwill,” Soule said. “Before I knew JBF, a friend and I, we tried to do garage sales ourselves, and it’s just so much work. It’s just nice to be able to take it to one location and have them do all the advertising and setup.”

Soule encourages anyone interested in selling to reach out. It can be intimidating, especially the first time, but there are resources to help consignors. JBF has a seller’s guide to help with pricing and other prep. Soule also helps run a Facebook group where participants can ask questions, and sometimes she visits sellers’ homes to walk them through the process. 

Their team also offers a valet tag service for people who want a more hands-off approach. The service includes a general rate per tag instead of the usual 60 percent commission on sold items. Many consignors who use the service opt to donate unsold items, so once they drop off items for the sale, it’s gone from their home for good.

“We’ll enter it, hang it, tag it,” Soule said. “You just bring it to the sale and drop off, so that’s a great option for people that are like, ‘Oh, I’d love to do it. I have all this stuff, but I just don’t have time.’”

Some staff, like Soule, return sale after sale. At least 75 percent of the temporary staff members they hire have previously worked at JBF sales.

Crabtree is looking forward to reuniting with staff and shoppers at Hopkins Pavilion in a few weeks. Though the pavilion provides a great solution for the spring sale, it won’t work for the fall sale, because the pavilion puts ice back in the arena at the end of summer. That said, Crabtree already has another solution in the works.

“I do have a place that now, because of the new territory lines, JBF Eden Prairie can be in,” she said. “It is going to be a little bit more of a drive, which I’m hoping won’t be too much of a deterrent, but if everything goes according to plan and we finalize it all, it looks like there’s a good chance that we’re going to be at the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia.”

Consignors at the last fall sale ended up selling 29,050 items. Typically, about 300 sellers participate, and they have the option to pick up their unsold items or donate them to JBF Eden Prairie’s charity partner.

About one-third of consignors donate unsold items, while many other sellers donate a portion of them. For the most recent sale, that meant donating 9,023 items to God’s Closet in Minnetonka. 

God’s Closet hosts events every three to four months for families to take clothing and other items at no cost. At the end of the JBF sale, the team from God’s Closet brings a truck to the venue to pack up the donations.

“It’s like a triple win,” Crabtree said. “A win (for) consignors getting to sell their outgrown items and make some money on it. The shopper is getting to purchase things at discounted prices, so being able to provide for their family without breaking the budget, and then being able to bless our charity partner and helping people in the community who aren’t able to go out and buy these things.”

Crabtree said it’s fun to see repeat customers who started buying pieces of baby clothing coming back years later to get increasingly bigger sizes as their children grow from toddlers to teens. Shoppers often return as consignors to cover the cost of new clothes and gear with the sale of things their family outgrew.

Some people discover JBF through advertisements, others through friends, and some just as they’re walking by the sales.

“It surprises me, even with having eight different JBF territories in the Twin Cities area, how many people still don’t know about JBF,” Crabtree said. “I know, personally, before I was an owner, how much JBF blessed me and how much I was able to save.”

Crabtree’s experience as a shopper is what inspired her to become an owner. She admired the business model and how it allowed families to get things they need at a fraction of the cost of new. JBF also allows her to work from home most of the year so she can care for her youngest child and homeschool her two older children.

Consignors average $350 per sale, and have a way to recycle items in good condition.

“It’s more like you’re borrowing your wardrobe instead of really purchasing it,” Crabtree said. “It’s just this really great cycle where things can keep on being reused and kept out of the landfills.”