R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Maycee Kuhlman writes a price tag for a purse at Gladstone Savers, a new store that just opened at 3205 Danforth Road to sell miscellaneous products at discount prices.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — Two sisters from Gladstone who started selling miscellaneous items on Facebook Live have recently moved into a commercial building at 3205 Danforth Road in Escanaba that is open to the public three days a week.

The young entrepreneurs are only in their teens. Emma Bowden graduated from Rapid River High School in 2024; Maycee Kuhlman is still enrolled as a sophomore.

After seeing on TikTok and Facebook that other people were earning money by buying up pallets of assorted merchandise and reselling the individual items one by one, the girls decided to try it themselves. The first pallet they purchased was comprised of unclaimed mail packages.

Bowden and Kuhlman sorted through the parcels — what was within was a mystery until they were opened.

“When you buy the pallets, you don’t know exactly what you’re getting, so it’s a guessing game,” Kuhlman said.

Of the first pallet, which they bought in April 2024: “It had everything,” said Bowden. “From clothes to car parts to wigs — just a bunch of random stuff.”

The preparation included looking up each item to find its original price, choosing a price that was about 50 to 60% reduced, and marking the item with a sticky note before hopping online for a live sale.

“A pallet would last us like a month, because it was a lot of little things,” Bowden said, explaining that they would only show about 10 to 15 products per live session so as not to “bombard” and overwhelm their viewing customers. They tried to do a live video every other day, and spent around two hours on the other days going through boxes and finding prices for the items within.

After showing off each selection in a Facebook Live video filmed in their mom’s basement, Bowden and Kuhlman would post photographs and prices on the “Gladstone Savers (Super Savers)” Facebook page. The first person to claim something in a comment or message would be able to collect the item and pay by cash or Cash App.

The girls estimated that they sold about ten pallets from home before the retail space on Danforth — previously occupied by GreenTree Auto Styling, Jens Gems by Peach, and K Flipperz — became available. They had earned enough profit to make the upgrade last month.

By Dec. 14, the storefront was open.

It’s still a work in progress, as things are perpetually being unboxed, tagged and put on shelves. But the main front room of the shop already has multiple racks of clothing — for all ages, sizes and genders — shoes, accessories and more, all priced and ready for shoppers. On the eastern side of the premises, a garage-like space contains larger items like furniture.

When the Press visited last week, Gladstone Savers had recently unboxed and assembled a bathroom vanity and a couch, but they’re still trying to figure out in what state customers will prefer multi-piece items.

“We don’t know if people want it in the box or out, so there’s a picture online for people to know what it looks like,” Kuhlman said.

Some things come out of their boxes regardless, like electronics.

“Air mattress, steam mops — we plug all of them,” Bowden said. “We try to make sure everything is in working condition; we don’t want to sell people duds.”

Sometimes, boxes and boxes of the same product arrive on a pallet. Right now, they’ve got dozens of play mats for babies.

“But you never know who’s gonna need it at what point in time,” Kuhlman reasoned.

Some surprising, big-ticket items have shown up. When designer products like a Coach purse, Stella McCartney purse and Tiffany & Co. bracelet came in, the girls took them to be appraised and authenticated. Bowden said the Tiffany bracelet fetched $1,600 MSRP.

Gladstone Savers also has a couple of Tesla chargers in stock and hope someone with an electric car in need stops by.

Though they’ve found that running a business is a lot of work, both Bowden and Kuhlman say they enjoy it.

With a plan to install more shelves and continuing to unpack merchandise, they’re working to get the Danforth place into more finished shape, but still welcome the public to browse during the store’s opening hours.

Soon, a roadside sign should make the location more visible; right now, “Gladstone Savers” can be read in the window. The shop is in between Precision Powersports and Midwest Refrigeration Supply.

Currently, since one operator has another full-time job and the other is still in school, Gladstone Savers is open between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Only cash and payment through Cash App are accepted at present.

Once work to the storefront is more complete, Gladstone Savers plans on resuming Facebook Live sales as well.