Trish L’Heureux co-owns The Chickadee Flea in downtown Damariscotta. The new shop in the Elm Street Plaza sells new and used furniture and home decor. (Jessica Clifford photo)
The Chickadee Flea, a shop that sells a combination of new and used furniture and home decor, opened April 25 in the Elm Street Plaza in downtown Damariscotta.
Owners Paul and Trish L’Heureux, who split their time between Newcastle and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, consign gently used items and new “exclusive” artisan-made decorations and jewelry.
The shop is next to The Lady’s Room, a clothing consignment shop.
Trish L’Heureux said The Chickadee Flee offers “almost anything you can feather your nest with.”
Anyone who wants to sell items on consignment with The Chickadee Flea should contact the owners at 682-0122 or info@thechickadeeflea.com.
The front half of the newest shop in downtown Damariscotta’s Elm Street Plaza: The Chickadee Flea. (Jessica Clifford photo)
Trish L’Heureux said it is best to send photos of items so they can make sure potential products fit the store’s eclectic mix of quality products that are clean and in good repair.
The consignor receives 50 percent of the sale price, while the store takes the other half.
Some of the items the store does not accept are mattresses, appliances, electronics, baby furniture, clothing, and recliners.
“I’m trying to keep furniture that’s not overly large … that might have character or be a little unique,” Trish L’Heureux said.
In addition to consignment items, The Chickadee Flea offers new art prints from Massachusetts artist Peter Van Dingstee, who does gyotaku, a Japanese method of printing fish; and reproductions of Edgecomb artist Suzi Thayer’s work. Other products include Maritime-themed pillows and handmade jewelry from a North Carolina artisan.
Now that she has an outlet, Trish L’Heureux would also like to sell her own photography in the future.
The furniture in The Chickadee Flea is set up as it might be in a buyer’s home. (Jessica Clifford photo)
Although the shop is filled with items, they are arranged to look like they might in someone’s home, with easy access to items around the store.
Trish L’Heureux enjoys decorating her shop and uses her talents to repurpose some items by giving them a different aesthetic or use.
The inventory may evolve depending on what items prove popular. “I’ve got to get a feel, when people start coming in more, what they take and what they are looking for,” Trish L’Heureux said.
The prices depend entirely on the product, she said. She researches the consignment items she sells to make sure the price is adequate for the quality as well as for supply and demand.
An eclectic group of items for sale at The Chickadee Flea, with the shop’s service desk in the back. (Jessica Clifford photo)
“My goal is to make it good for everybody – for the people that are buying it and the people, including myself and the consignor, who are selling it,” she said of setting prices.
The owners are “expecting good turnover” and replace items when others are sold, she said.
Since the shop opened, Trish L’Heureux said, people have been “very nice, very complimentary,” and have given her “a lot of good feedback.”
The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. On Memorial Day weekend, The Chickadee Flea will be open Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27.
