Weho Shoppers Turn Out for Citywide Yard Sale

West Hollywood’s first citywide yard sale looks to have been a success. The two-day city-sponsored event brought out many buyers to check out the no-longer-wanted wares up for sale.

“There were people in front of my house at 6 a.m. and I hadn’t even started putting things out,” said one West Hollywood West resident, who had vintage art, photographs and even a badly worn 19th century bible on her display tables. “I made about $600.”

Around 126 residents registered their homes between Doheny Drive and Crescent Heights Boulevard. The WehoGrnWknd event was meant to encourage the community to keep useful items out of the landfill. 

“Reuse is much better than recycling," said Mayor Pro Tempore Jeffrey Prang. "Our goal is to once a year turn West Hollywood into a citywide thrift shop, helping the environment, our wallets and the community."

Sellers report that Saturday was a busy day with a fair amount of purchases. However, an early morning rain storm on Sunday dampened the enthusiasm as many sellers did not bother to put out their wares and far fewer buyers turned out for bargains.

Bruce Traub, who lives on Huntley Drive, said they had a good day Saturday, but apprehensively put things out on Sunday morning, fearing more rain might be coming. His wife, Ruth, reported many locals stopping by, as well as visitors from Van Nuys, Santa Monica and the South Bay.

“People came by and they were happy,” she said. “They looked around, chatted some, bought some things. It was a nice time.”

Henny Jegan, who lives on Dorrington Avenue, had never held a yard sale before, but reported over 300 people stopped by, with the majority on Saturday.

“I made about $680,” said Jegan, who had many pieces of jewelry and clothing for sale in her yard, among other things. “I’m very happy.” 

In addition to jewelry and clothing, kitchen items, china, lamps, chairs, bookcases, stereos, CDs, videotapes, books, and much more were for sale throughout West Hollywood. One house even had Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving decorations for sale, plus wrapping paper.

“I found a pair of cobalt blue glass vases,” said one buyer from Culver City. “I’d seen the same vases in an antique store for several hundred dollars, but I got these for $15.” 

Shoppers and sellers alike told Weho Patch they were enthusiastic about future citywide yard sales, but suggested that the city waive parking restrictions, similar to Gay Pride or Halloween Carnival. Parking enforcement cars circling neighborhoods made some buyers leave sales sooner than they might have otherwise.

Others suggested that the city better advertise the sale to bring out more shoppers. Residents noted the banners along Santa Monica Boulevard were not nearly as effective as an ad in the LA Times or Craigslist.

Concurrently, West Hollywood City Hall held a free document shedding and e-waste collection in the City Hall parking lot on Saturday. People brought old computers, keyboards, monitors, TVs, VCRs and stereo equipment for disposal. Those electronics will be dismantled and parts recycled. 

Michelle Bell, who coordinated the City Hall collection, estimated 450 to 500 attendees, with two-thirds there to have documents shredded.

“We’ve had some people come through this line three and four times,” said Bell. “Kuntz Hardware brought five truckloads of documents for shredding.”

People driving into the City Hall parking lot repeatedly said they were so happy the city was doing the collection. Some said they had been saving up their documents and electronics for months, waiting for the collection event that the city holds every six months. 

Whether it was disposing of e-waste and shredding documents or selling off unwanted items in the yard sale, people repeatedly said they felt lighter, freer, glad to no longer have the burden of these items in their homes.

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