Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shannon Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Shannon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

When I bought Pear Tree Mall on January 16th, 2016 I felt it was nowhere near it’s potential. I went to work immediately increasing the community awareness. I also looked around and knew that a booth vendor mall (which is what it had been for the previous 4 years of business) was not how I wanted to continue. Hence, Pear Tree Mall Consignment and Treasure Hunting was born. It took until late 2020 to remove all booths and begin taking in consignment items. Finally, I realized social media was going to be our bread and butter. Myself and my right hand girl began doing LIVES on FB on October 19, 2019. We’ve never looked back. We are now almost 6 years in on LIVES and have made it through a pandemic and an F4 tornado on December 10th, 2021. We have overcome many obstacles and are better for it. One obstacle was making certain we understood what our consignors needed as well as the customers. We found out what they like most about Pear Tree Mall right after the low prices is the staff. Each and every one of the staff at Pear Tree Mall has developed personal relationships with our consignors and customers. The folks that watch us LIVE are lovingly call the Pear Tree Mall Polka Dots. As we are coming upon 2026 I am hopeful that our forward progression will continue.

Shannon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started as the bookkeeper for Pear Tree Mall from its inception in 2012. I had always planned to retire by age 50, but it turned out differently. On January 1, 2016, at the age of 49 and 4 months, I purchased Pear Tree Mall, intending to just be the bookkeeper and take things easy as the owner. However, I was in for a big surprise!

Pear Tree Mall initially operated as a booth/vendor mall. After a few months, I had the idea to start accepting consignment items. Despite the large size of the brick-and-mortar store, I quickly ran out of space. This led me to the decision to transform the store entirely into a consignment shop. It took about a year to make that transition, and once we did, the business truly took off. We also began live selling on Facebook, and as they say, the rest is history! We have consistently increased our brand awareness and are dedicated to keeping items, which we lovingly call “treasures,” out of landfills. I host Facebook Live sessions daily, and in doing so, have cultivated a devoted following. Those who tune in to our lives have become so attached to Pear Tree Mall, myself, and our staff that we affectionately refer to them as the Pear Tree Mall Polka Dots. Many even proudly wear t-shirts declaring their status as a Pear Tree Mall Polka Dot!
Pear Tree Mall is wonderful place and I hope to continue my so called retirement here for many more years!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media has become Pear Tree Mall’s bread and butter. We were posting on what is now our main page almost every day. It was simply a picture of one of the newest items on our floor and the price tag. I soon learned that we needed more engagement with our posts. Of course, I had no idea how to achieve that goal. I decided to turn to Google. I remember typing in the words “increase engagement on FB post.” Well, about 10,000 articles and YouTube videos showed up. I read and watched so many; I was beginning to be confused. So I stopped reading and watching. The takeaway for me was to make my posts more alluring. So I started there. Then, I and the staff began asking everyone who came into the store if they were following us. If not, we asked them to follow us right then, and we gave them a gift for doing so. That increased the followers very quickly. Then, in October 2019, when we went live for the first time, our followers simply snowballed. Our FB LIVE is still, to this day, 50% of our sales and the most fun we have all day!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Consistency is paramount. It’s the cornerstone of building trust and a loyal customer base. Whether it’s with staff or within the business overall, the message should always be consistent. This means:

* Standing by your words: If you make a promise, keep it.
* Maintaining core values: Don’t compromise your principles for short-term gains.
* Consistent branding: Project a clear and unified image to the public.

It takes time to master consistency. When starting, uncertainty is normal, but unwavering consistency breeds customer comfort and positive word-of-mouth referrals. Finally, authenticity is key. Never overpromise or misrepresent your offerings. Honesty and reliability will always be appreciated.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ptm42066
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pear.treemall.9
• Other: Pear Tree Polka Dot FB Page
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/270436060234314

Image Credits

Self