Speckled Egg owner Phillip Clark points at the metal colorful rooster that stands on the sidewalk welcoming people to his Speckled Egg store in downtown Ringgold.Early in 2015, local businessman Phillip Clark faced a brutal blow. Speckled Egg, the consignment and antiques business he had built up over the last five years, was to be demolished following the sale of the land the store stood on. Reluctantly, he was forced to give it up.
“It was hurtful to have to leave Brainerd,” Clark said.
He took some time off following the closure of the business – from which he had only taken eight days off over five years. After several months, he found himself ready to get at it again.
“You can’t keep the little guy down; we just pop up somewhere else,” Clark said with a laugh.
The second iteration of Speckled Egg opened recently in Ringgold, and a number of Clark’s old customers have already found him again, he said. Although he hasn’t engaged in a serious marketing campaign yet for his new location, Clark said a good number of the 620 consigners from the first location have returned.
He credits his positive treatment of his customers in Brainerd for the good response.
“Just taking care of the customer gets you brand loyalty, and they always come first for me. Always have,” said Clark. “I work really hard on that relationship to make it an honest one.”
Clark is also continuing his policy of donating consigned goods that don’t sell after 60 days and which the consigner doesn’t want back, to charity. He usually donates to Teen Challenge, a faith-based nonprofit organization that works to get people free of drug addiction. Clark said it’s just one way he tries to give back.
“I’d say I take pride in it,” he said. “I take more pride in actually selling my goods, but donation is good too.”
“Picking” has always been a part of Clark’s life, dating back to when he was a child. His uncle was an auctioneer, which he said spurred the initial interest. Clark decided to open the first Speckled Egg after driving down a street in 2010 and seeing a high-end chair sitting by someone’s garbage cans to be collected.
“I picked that up and said to myself, ‘If people are throwing stuff like this away, I need to get in this business,'” he laughed.
Although being forced to leave Brainerd left a bad taste in his mouth, Clark said he’s happy with how things have turned out.
“Ringgold has been very accepting; we’ve grown a lot off just a little word of mouth,” said Clark. “They talk to each other down here, and we all try to help each other out. If I don’t have what someone is looking for, I’ll refer them to another store to help them. It’s just a fantastic community as far as I can tell.”