S tart the new millennium by

Community

planning for gour . future

Ask yourself the
following questions:

• Are you 50 years
or older?

• Do you have assets
you want to leave to your
children or other relatives?

• Would taking care of
you be emotionally
difficult for your spouse?

• Do you place a high
value on your
independence, privacy,
and dignity?

• If we could show you a
way to protect yourself
and maintain your dignity
and privacy, would this be
important to you?

Plan for your future today!

Your Pennsylvania Life agent can help you design a
"Long Term Care or Home Health are" insurance program that can provide
the protection you want and need.

For further information call Richard Levine

(248) 344-4600

email: glrbase@aol.com

WEINTRAUB JEWELERS

gt t

W E SERVICE EVERYTHING WE SELL...

AND EVERYTHING ANYBODY ELSE SELLS.
Anybody Can Sell Jewelry... But Nobody
Provides Service & Discounts Like Weintraub

Store Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10-5

Sunset Strip • 29536 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield • 248-357-4000
.
.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. lw*

ARNOLD

LINCOLN-MERCURY-MAZDA

Drive East Pay The Least

A
L
E

50.60%!

vg, ay.

1/21

2000

38

on the Boardwalk
248-626-7776

Previous purchases excluded. All sales final.

mama

.

PASSION FOR THE ROAD."'

LINCOLN

Mercury ✓ 2

GIL PRATT

Leasing Manager

Your West Side Specialist
(8 1 0) 445-6000

Gratiot Ave. at 12 Mile Road
Roseville, MI 48066
Fax (810) 771-7340

DETR012'
JEWISH NEWS

J

CLASSIFIEDS
GET
RESULTS!

Call

(248)354.5959

new NCJW president-elect, co-chairs
the thrift shops' administrative commit-

tee along with Sally Mayer and Brenda
Glickman of West Bloomfield. Bloom
says, "Programs like Kosher Meals on
Wheels, 'Up and Out' (a recreational
program for seniors), Passport to Israel,
SPACE for Changing Families, Court
Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
and Jewish News on Tape- are just a sam-
pling of the activities our members have
been able to make possible."
A kosher shelter for abused women
and children is one of the newer facili-
ties NCJW has created.
"Our organization appreciates the
donors who make it possible for us to
continue in our community-service pro-
jects," Bloom said.
As for the merchandise people might
consider donating, Bloom advises,
"Items don't have to have a designer
label, be trendy or expensive. But we do
ask that they be clean and sellable."
"We can never predict what is going
to come in," says Jean Clary of Royal
Oak, who has managed the Royal Oak
store for 15 years. "Put of the fun of
the job for me is that the stock is always
changing."
Asked about some of the more
bizarre or unusual items that have
crossed her desk, Clary presents two
extremes.
"We once accepted a bracelet that
upon closer examination looked like it
might be rubies and diamonds. I decid-
ed to take it to a jeweler because maybe
the owner hadn't realized its value."
When the first jeweler offered Clary
$350 and then a second suggested
about $600, she knew she was onto the
genuine article.
On the other hand, she once opened
a donated package to discover a box of
chocolate candy, which had already
been sampled.
"That concept of 'used' certainly was
different," she says.
Sandy Robinet of Southfield man-
ages the Berkley Thrift Shop, which
never has trouble filling its 6,000 square
feet.
Located in the commercial strip on
12 Mile Road, between Greenfield and
Coolidge, the store attracts about 500
walk-in customers every Saturday,
Robinet says, "although there's no such
thing as a typical day — during a busy
one, we might see 150 transactions."
Is there a typical patron?
"We welcome a significant number
of working women here," Robinet
says. "These are shoppers who are
looking for quality clothing that they
know they can take off the rack and

wear the next day."
Both Clary and Robinet welcome
visitors from Pontiac to Detroit. The
browsers are just as likely to spot a
Donna Karan as a Koret California,
but a Chanel label never lasts long
in the stores.
Robinet says she's been on the receiv-
ing end of some rather odd contribu-
tions. The other day a taxidermist's
•
dream came in: a stuffed tabby cat.
She sells vintage items quickly, not-
ing that not long ago the store's toy sec-
tion received a genuine steel tractor as
well as the type of metal toasters and
stoves that children loved to play house
with in the 1940s.
The best part for many shoppers is
learning whether they made a winning
bid in each week's closed, silent auction.
They choose from a group of 20-25
unusiially appealing items selected by
Robinet. She displays them during the
Monday-Saturday business hours.
"As long as your bid is made before
11:50 a.m. of that Saturday, you are
eligible to be considered," she says.
"Our requirement is that you must
beat the nearest competitor by at least
one dollar."
So committed is her staff to making
sure a customer is pleased, they will
allow a winner to "pull out" if a change
of heart occurs.
The store management tries to main-
tain as scrupulous an operation as possi-
ble. Safety regulations are posted in the
thrift shops, and staffers keep up-to-
date on consumer alerts regarding haz-
ardous, recalled or undesirable products.
In one memorable incident, Siegel
recalls a man who had been saving
money for a trip in one of his suit
jackets.
"He had stashed several hundred
dollars in the pocket," she says.
Then his wife decided to donate
clothing.
When the thrift shop staff exam-
ined it and found the jacket contain-
ing money, they immediately called
the customer.
"We want to sleep well at night,"
Robinet says. "We don't ever want to
feel that by our taking money we were
hurting anyone in any way."0

For hours and other informa-
tion, call the National Council
of Jewish Women's Thrift
Shops at 3297 W. 12 Mile
Road, Berkley, (248) 548-6664;
or 1221 E. Lincoln, Royal Oak,
(248) 542-2600.

