Veteran bargain-hunters organize Lawrenceville community yard sale

Popie Levendos and her friend, an artist who goes by Lynne b., are “seasoned collectors” who want to share their love of thrifting, flea markets and rummage sales with the residents of Lawrenceville.

The longtime friends have organized the inaugural Lawrenceville Yard Crawl Sale, set to take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday throughout the neighborhood.

More than 50 households were signed up as of late last week, Levendos said, and they’re looking for more to join in.

Participation is free and simple — gather up your sale items, price them and set them out on one or both sale days. Information is available at Lawrenceville Yard Crawl Sale on Instagram and blogspot.com.

Sellers who register by Wednesday at lawrencevilleyardcrawlsale@gmail.com will have their addresses added to a list on blogspot.com, but anyone is welcome to sell even without being registered.

A Lawrenceville resident, Levendos said she and Lynne, who lives in Polish Hill, have been thinking about organizing a community-wide yard sale for several years. They were inspired by similar events in Highland Park and Stanton Heights.

“It’s an event that’s been a long time coming, and it’s exactly the kind of thing Lawrenceville should be doing, in the middle of doing a lot of other really cool things,” Levendos said.

Not only is it a way for Lawrenceville residents to get rid of excess stuff and make a few bucks, but it’s also a way to make community connections.

“We grew up in neighborhoods where we had block parties every summer, and that was something that really brought your street together. This is sort of like our version of it.” Levendos said. “It’s amazing to me how you can live on a street for 25 years and not know your neighbor. That’s a really important part of this, too.”

Levendos and Lynne sought help in promoting the crawl from Lawrenceville United and Lawrenceville Corp., nonprofit organizations that promote quality of life and responsible growth in the neighborhood.

“We’re hoping to make it an annual event, so we’ll see what kind of interest we get in the first year,” Levendos said. “Next year, if it works, we’d like to get businesses involved in whatever capacity that looks like and grow from there.

“We have some creative things that we want to do to promote the neighborhood, the shops and the restaurants,” she said.

Levendos and Lynne offer participating sellers, especially first-timers, these tips:

• Keep prices simple and group items of a similar price together.

• Have plastic bags ready, along with old newspaper for wrapping breakable items.

• Have plenty of cash in small denominations for making change. Consider Venmo as a payment option.

• Put bargain items in front, as they have a better chance of selling that way and will attract customers to other items.