Red Barn Variety & Consignment co-owners Christina Dodd, left, and her son Levi Dodd hold items for sale in their LaFayette store. The homemade sign reads: "Tis the Season to be Jolly" and Levi is holding an Eastman acoustic guitar also for sale in the store that has lots of furniture, appliances, clothing and more for sale.For Christina Dodd, owner of the recently opened Red Barn Variety consignment store in LaFayette, her business isn't just a way to make a living. It's a way to do her part in benefiting the local community.
"We try to do everybody fair. We try to keep our prices low. The average person can't afford to go out and spend a lot," said Dodd. "We're just trying to make it so that anyone can come in, do some shopping and get something nice."
Dodd, who has five children, one of who has special needs, said having her own business with the ability to set her own hours provided the opportunity to spend more time with her children.
"Our goal is just to help each other," she said of her and her consignors. "A lot of my consignors are elderly folks on a fixed income, so this gives them the opportunity to get everything together and get them some spending money. People come in with good stories about what they're selling, too."
Red Barn Variety has also, on occasion, donated goods to those in need, said Dodd. She donated to a family who lost their home in a house fire, and in another instance donated a stove to a family whose old stove had quit working. While it might seem counterproductive for a business to give away goods, Dodd said charity lies at the core of her Christian faith.
"We do our best to put God first," she said. "We've got customers that talk to us about their personal life, and [we] try to help when we can. We've had hard times before, and we were always thankful for the people that helped us, so we try to work with everyone to make things reasonable.
"The way we look at it, as long as we can pay our bills, we're good. If I knew that your kids were in need, I'd be right there to help. Of course we're trying to make a living, but that's not a reason we can't be charitable."
For her, the customers in her store always come first, and the people of LaFayette have taken notice. Word of mouth has been the primary way that customers have heard of Red Barn Variety, Dodd said.
"If you're good to your customers, they'll be good to you," she said. "We've just been blown away with the business we had. It's definitely beaten what we expected."
Red Barn Variety will deliver the appliances and furniture people purchase in the store all over the North Georgia and Tennessee area, courtesy of Dodd's son Levi.
"Levi's added about 5,000 miles to his truck since we opened, which I think is another thing that people are appreciating. We just had someone drive from Summerville to buy from us because they heard good things about us," said Dodd.
Red Barn Variety is located at 3709 N. Highway 27. To learn more, call the store at 256-630-5698. Hours are typically 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but Dodd said that anytime she is in the building she won't turn away a customer.
"We're giving it all we have, just trying to make people happy," said Dodd.