- April 4, 2025
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Bus Tour Guide Patti Clark and Assistant Bus Tour Guide Beverly Polk
Retail queens and kings receive a bracelet when they get on the bus.
The first stop was Fabulous Finds at the Pines of Sarasota.
Kim Claflin buys twin sheets at thrift stores for her massage therapy business.
Ellen Ostroth and Kim Claflin
CJ Johnson won a Michael Kors purse in the Fabulous Finds raffle drawing.
The guests ride around in a bus to all the stops.
Ricardo and Indrani Kaulessar
Terri Pavao shops at Sarasota Architectural Salvage.
Chris Season, Judy Draeger, Deb Steiner and Linda Prescott
The Sarasota Architectural Salvage sold many figurines and odd treasures.
One shopper bought this piece of furniture for $1,000 and had it shopped back to her home in Cleveland.
Many guests purchased one of these turtle figurines.
The Sarasota Architectural Salvage was the second stop of the day.
There are both indoor and outdoor items at Sarasota Architectural Salvage.
The shoppers bought items both big and small, fitting everything underneath the bus after the store.
Kim Ammeson models at Designing Women Boutique.
Ann Oberlin models at Designing Women Boutique.
Linda Prescott looks through the clothes at Designing Women Boutique.
Bobbie Thomas was excited about finding this Tribe tank.
Nancy Cluynar shows off her new shirt from Designing Women Boutique.
Designing Women Boutique has both affordable and discounted designer items at its store.
The bus was full with 59 women and one gentleman on a mission — to find hidden treasures at local resale stores.
The Happy Thrifter hosted The Ultimate Resale Shopping Bus Tour on March 7 throughout Sarasota. A couple times a month, tour guide Patti Clark works with local resale, consignment and thrift stores to come up with a route for the 60 shoppers on the bus to shop all day. These tours take place within a 100-mile radius from Palmetto to Naples.
The Sarasota tour sold out to 60 retail queens and one king, as the shoppers are called. The kings and queens receive a bracelet when they get on the bus so everyone knows who is part of the tour when shopping the stores.
The stops are a mystery — guests don’t know where they’re headed next until they get back on the bus. The stops on the March 7 Sarasota tour were Fabulous Finds at the Pines of Sarasota, Sarasota Architectural Salvage, Designing Women Boutique and The Women’s Exchange.
Returning shoppers have started bringing suitcases onto the bus to hold all their treasures. In all, Clark says the group spends about $2,000 total per stop for a final amount of $10,000 at the end of one bus tour.
Clark’s most bizarre thrifting moment was when she bought a yellow duck backpack. She purchased it as a gift, but it never got to its receiver. Instead, it sat in her garage for two years. When she opened it years later, she was surprised to find an envelope inside with $2,000.
So, if you seek your own thrift treasure, there are two tours left for the season, one in Englewood April 11 and the other in Fort Myers on May 16. Call 816-352-0975.
