Pompy tent sale
People line up in front of the Pompanoosuc Mills Tent Sale
Question: What could possibly get Roger to wake up at 6:00am on a Saturday?
Answer: A bargain!
We've been looking for a desk for quite some time now, to put in our second bedroom, which we are trying to get ourselves to use as an office. Up until now, we used a few stacked unopened boxes to house my old Mac Lombard laptop and our router. It really didn't scream office, so we rarely went into the room and instead continued to use our dining room table and sometimes our coffee table as makeshift desks.
Then Roger heard about the Pompy Mills Tent Sale!
On your mark ... !
Pompanoosuc Mills is a Vermont company that makes finecrafted wood furniture, including beds, tables, chairs. Usually they are priced way out of our budget. Apparently, once a year, the Mills holds a huge tent sale where they put out overstocked or discontinued, and sometimes new items out for sale, marked down anywhere from 20-70% off.
There are a couple of rules, though.
Rule #1: You have to get a ticket to get into the tent sale. Tickets are handed out as early as 6:00am on the first day of the sale, although the tents don't open until 10:00am. This is because people come from all over New England, and upstate New York too to attend this sale. Some people come in the night before and camp to just get their ticket.
Rule #2: Choose a tent to begin. There are three tents from which you can begin, the Living Room tent, Dining Room, and Bedroom and Office. You can move from tent-to-tent once you're inside, but you have to strategize because of Rule #3.
Rule #3: Once you find a piece you want to buy, you have to put your hand on it and stay by the piece until a salesperson comes by to finalize the sale. This usually means you have to look quickly and make a decision fast, or else you might miss out on a piece. People also tend to bring buddies so they can fan out, go to different tents and claim multiple pieces.
We ended purchasing a very nice, very simple workstation in an ash finish. It has dovetail joints and two side-by-side drawers on casters. It has just enough length to hold our computer and printer, and allow for writing or a book, but not too much depth, so it doesn't take up too much space in the bedroom. It was 40% and definitely in our budget. Yay! We even got to carry it home in our new car.
The sale was kind of hectic, but fun. Maybe next we'll spring for a new dresser for Roger, who definitely needs one with drawers that work.
