PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The SHOPKEEPER
Todd Light’s and Liz Taylor’s entrepreneurial spirits have created a resale emporium that spans 3,300 sq. ft. of merchandise acquired on their buying adventures
from Sebastian to Miami. Taylor has an open-door policy that welcomes seniors who enjoy spending time there.
When budgets are tight, the prudent go thrifting.
These days, frugality is fashionable and looking
for that just right item is part of the allure of thrift
shops. Finding one is like scoring treasure.
Building community – one customer at a time – is what Liz
Taylor has been doing since she opened her store in Lakeside
Center, east of the Port St. Lucie City Hall complex. Next
month she will celebrate the shop’s two-year anniversary.
More than just a business, Taylor treats her clientele like
extended family. Leaving a career as a cosmetology instructor
in Vero Beach, she found herself co-owner of Liz Taylor’s This
& That, an emporium devoted to merchandise matchmaking
and a place for seniors to congregate.
“It was my husband’s idea. He is an estate sale hopper
in his spare time,” Taylor explains. “One night, he said out
of the blue, ‘We need to open a store.’ The very next day he
began to put a plan in place. Six months later we had built up
a sizable inventory and found a location.”
Taylor’s husband, Todd Light, loves a good buy. Their shop
is not run-of-the-mill; it’s a neighborhood destination for
interior designers, families on a budget and seniors looking
for camaraderie during the day. The former karate studio is
home to 3,300 sq. ft. of merchandise garnered from yard and
estate sales along the Treasure Coast.
Among the gently used, secondhand items for sale are
home goods, decor and art objects, yard decorations, clothing,
furnishings, wall art, antiques and miscellany that defy
classification. There is a children’s room and Taylor gives
personal attention to moms with little ones, offering freebies
JOHN BIONDO
from her giveaway basket.
Client testimonials attest to Taylor’s lack of clutter and her
attention to detail:
“Your shop looks GREAT, Liz, and if I
lived closer I’d be shopping there all the
time! Congratulations!”
50 Port St. Lucie Magazine
— Christine M. Conner
“Dear Liz and Todd, I think you have a
great store. I do not know where you find
your stock, but you are a cut way above
any other type of your category. Most of
your items are in excellent and mint condition
and your prices are tops.”
— Dennis Michael Kuno
Taylor keeps in mind the wishes of her customers, too. If
there is anything in particular that someone is keen on buying,
she scouts it out while in the field. She and her husband
travel from Sebastian to Miami, acquiring inventory by the
truckloads. Over time, local real estate agents learned of the
duo’s penchant for purchasing and began to tap them as
estate buyers. It’s their best source to find merchandise.
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BY DEBRA MAGRANN