Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Martinez
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Sometime in early 2018, a friend of mine shared about this sales event where I could go buy things I needed for my new baby, who had been born in October the year before. Having a child is so expensive, and I was so excited to check out this sale and see what I could find! I have always had a love for finding a deal- shopping at local consignment shops, thrift stores, wholesale stores, or even scouring Facebook marketplace for a good deal. So this was right up my alley. I went to shop in April or May that year, and I walked in and said “Whoa!” It was bigger than I expected and looked just like a store! Amazing! Needless to say, I shopped ’till I dropped for clothing, some new toys, and shoes. I vowed to keep going back each sale and I did! It was a huge blessing to our family to be able to save money in this way.
This sale I went to back in 2018 is called Just Between Friends (JBF), and though I didn’t know it at the time, it is a national company of franchisees, with over 150 sale locations across the country. To me, it was just my favorite place to shop for my kids. A local treasure. I kept shopping every sale (twice per year), and even started selling as a consignor once I had things to sell. One of the best parts of JBF is that all the items are from local families, and shopping at the sale sends money right back into the community I live in.
One morning in February 2021, I got an email from Just Between Friends that the current owner of our local franchise location wanted to sell her territory. I later found out that she had sent many of those emails before, but I believe sometimes we see things at the moment we’re supposed to. After my first child, I had gone back to work only to quickly stop working full time and work with my mom part time. I had a second child in the meantime who was now nearing on two years old, and I was feeling my capacity slowly increase. I told my mom, I think we could own JBF. I bet we could be really good at planning the sales! I had religiously shopped and sold at the sale, but I hadn’t ever worked one second at the sale. I think I just loved it, and knew I could put passion behind hard work and steward the sale well.
After a few months of due diligence and securing capital, my mom and I became owners of Just Between Friends Houston South in May 2021. Since then, we have steadily (and sometimes really quickly) grown our sale to serve more consignors and more shoppers from our local community of Pearland, Alvin, Friendswood, Clear Lake, League City, and surrounding areas. It’s still my favorite place to shop for my kids and a huge blessing to our family. I can be home with our kids and be a homeschool mom, while also fulfilling my desire to work!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think just like life, sometimes have felt smooth and sometimes have felt very challenging. It’s wonderful when marketing seems to work, planning is executed well, and people show up, but we’ve definitely had our share of things to overcome.
The biggest struggle we’ve had is hosting two sales events during a hurricane. Our very first sale after we purchased the franchise was the week of Hurricane Nicholas in Sept 2021 and then our most recent sale in League City was the week of Hurricane Beryl. An experience like that teaches us very quickly who we can count on, what grit really means, and how to serve the community well. The nature of our events are such that they are near impossible to reschedule with short notice, so in both instances, we kept moving forward and moved through each challenge has it came, and there were many! We were still able to provide a shopping event for our community where they could save up to 90% off on things for their kids. Faced with downed fences, leaking roofs, and no power, we became a sort of solace in the storm. We learned to never underestimate what we could do.
We have also faced struggles with the logistics of running a business like budgeting, cash flow, and all those behind the scenes things. Having to just figure things out and even failing from time to time is a wonderful teacher.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Just Between Friends Houston South is a local children’s consignment sales event for all things baby and maternity! We host three sales events per year, two in Pearland and one in League City. Local families sell their kids’ gently-used items and then the community can come shop at 50-90% off retail.
What sets us apart from other places you could sell your kids items, is that you can sell hundreds (or even thousands if you want) items in one place at one time, with thousands of shoppers looking at your items over the course of about four days.
I am most proud of how our team, who is made up primarily of our consignors, shows up every single sale to continue to make our sale the best it can be. We couldn’t do it without around one hundred people helping us make it happen!
Our next sale is coming up on October 17-19 at Texas United Volleyball Gym in Pearland! It’s our Fall sale and it’s a new location for us and we are thrilled to be at this new venue!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite memory was during a visit to Yosemite National Park when I was 9 years old. We had signed up for a horseback riding excursion at the park, but when we got there my mom couldn’t ride because she was pregnant, my dad didn’t meet the weight requirement, and my little sister ended up being too small. My parents, awesome as they are, let me still go. I felt so grown up and so brave and to this day it’s one of my fondest childhood memories! Funny thing is now my husband and kids and I love going to state parks and national parks more than anywhere else! So far as a family of 5, we’ve been lots of parks in Texas, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Next up is the Everglades in 2025.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://houstonsouth.jbfsale.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbfhoustonsouth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JBFHoustonSouth/
