In just 10 years, Berks County native Tracy Panase has turned a fledgling pop-up consignment franchise into a full-sized family expo, boasting more than 1,000 consignors and 300,000 items that help local parents clothe and entertain their children.
What is Just Between Friends? It’s a semi-annual children’s and maternity consignment and retail event franchise. Essentially, it’s a pop-up where moms and dads can bring items to be sold or come to shop. We have typically held events twice a year at Body Zone in Wyomissing, but because of the popularity of the event, we’ve added a third holiday sale at what was the Manufacturer’s Outlet Mall in Morgantown.
How did you get involved? Well, when my children were younger, I had all of this practically new stuff that they had outgrown, and I thought there had to be a better way. The average kid outgrows their wardrobe every six months, and I thought, “as parents, how can we earn some money, do good for our environment, and impact our community?” My husband and I had owned other franchise concepts, so when this came on my radar, I knew it was exactly what we needed. We bought the first franchise in Pennsylvania and now own four.
Where are your other territories? I own a franchise in Oaks; that event is at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, and we see a lot of our Berks families there. We added Lancaster three years ago, and I also have one in Warminster, Bucks County.
And what about the other franchises you have owned in the past? We owned a company called Cookies by Design for about 14 years, which did edible cookie arrangements, and my husband currently owns a Superior Wash, which is a mobile truck washing business. We’ve kind of always believed in franchising because we like the system and the brand recognition that it brings. It’s an opportunity to be in business for yourself, but not necessarily by yourself.
How can people get involved? People can prepare and tag their items right at home through a very simple online system, then drop off their items three days before the sale. We take care of the rest. Our sellers can also earn a little bit more by working at the sale, and a lot of people do. We have about 400 volunteers in Berks! At the end of the event, anything that hasn’t sold can be picked up or donated to the Children’s Home of Reading. The cool thing about JBF is that everything is hyper-local. The parents are from Berks, the charity stays in Berks, and the money made goes right back into our local economy.
Do you work with any other organizations? It’s really a community event, and our mission is providing not only goods that parents need, but also services they may not have access to otherwise. We bring healthcare, insurance and financial professionals – anything that makes sense for our moms and dads – and always welcome other organizations that want to come in to raise money or awareness around issues that matter to local families.
Now Trending.
The Reading JBF was the first in the state. Today, it is one of 14 in Pennsylvania and is the second-largest franchise in the country. (Tracy’s Oaks territory is the largest!)
Save the Date.
The next Reading sale is Sept. 5-8 at Body Zone in Wyomissing. For more details on how to buy, sell, or work the event, visit reading.jbfsale.com.
