By: Alyssa Ochss | St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published July 25, 2023
ST. CLAIR SHORES — The St. Clair Shores Cool City Committee is hosting a citywide garage sale, and the number of registered participants is growing every day.
At press time, there were more than 300 garage sales signed up for the sale, said John Cilluffo, trustee of the Cool City Committee. With the help of a few members and others who have shared information about the garage sale on sites such as Facebook, they’ve gained a lot of publicity.
“When I first initially took on the lead for this, I thought 50 would have been the number since it’s our first year doing it,” Cilluffo said.
Residents can still apply to be a part of the garage sale, Cilluffo said, and they can register by going to the Cool City Committee - St. Clair Shores Facebook page or by visiting the Civic Center.
“Then we’re going to have to shut it down due to the fact that we still have to create a list, a map, stuff like that for the residents or for the buyers to actually participate in it so we’re going to need some time,” Cilluffo said.
The registration cut-off date is the week of Aug. 7. The garage sale is going to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
When the maps come out, they can be found online and at the Civic Center as well. Jason Miller, chairperson of the Cool City Committee, said they were able to create a map using Google and pin everyone’s address to it.
“For those that are pretty good with phones and stuff, you’ll be able to just select a pin and even with Google you can get directions right to it, the location,” Miller said. “That’ll be extremely helpful.”
Cilluffo had a meeting with the city, and he said for that weekend only the permit fee has been waived.
“We’ve had some people calling going, ‘Well, it says it’s waiving the permit fee. Do I still have to get a permit?’” Cilluffo said. “No. Everything is waived for that weekend as long as you register.”
All the normal city rules for garage sales still apply, Cilluffo said. One of the key rules people have to remember is that garage sale signs must stay off city property. He said if there are multiple garage sales on one street, someone could step up and make a sign that says, “block sale.”
“You’ve got to be nice with your neighbors because you can’t assume that your corner neighbor is going to want all these signs on (their property). You’re going to have to ask them,” Cilluffo said.
Miller said the idea of the citywide garage sale came from other cities that host them. Miller credits Cilluffo with bringing the idea up and residents have also asked about the idea.
“In about March, the idea was started and it’s just grown exponentially,” Miller said. “If we see this type of growth and this excitement and this has gone together very quickly, it’s already been suggested we’ll make this an annual event from now on.”
Cilluffo said the Cool City Committee is not responsible for the items sold. Miller said they’re creating the event and generating enthusiasm from the community.
“We’ve got great feedback on this already, a lot of excitement, but it goes back to the individuals that want to set up their garage sale,” Miller said.
This event will help bring people to sellers who might not get a lot of traffic, Miller said.
“Now there is a general awareness of marketing, so this is a great date for those that maybe have never traditionally sold many things but still want to do a garage sale,” Miller said. “This will help bring people to it.”
Both Cilluffo and Miller expressed their shock and surprise at the number of people who had signed up already. They also want to credit Matthew Wisotsky, treasurer and trustee of the Cool City Committee, who created the graphics for the garage sale.
“We have not heavily marketed this event,” Miller said. “It’s been actually naturally grown by word of mouth or through just the Facebook pages, it’s actually taken on a growth of its own. So that’s what kind of surprised us initially, how much of a response and excitement that this has generated already.”
Cilluffo said one of the goals in terms of the number of garage sales is 500.
“But we’re shooting big. Why not? It’s our first time doing (it). Let’s blow it up and see what we can do with it,” Cilluffo said.