Menu
The Purple Cow to celebrate first year
CLOVERDALE -- The Purple Cow will be celebrating its first year of raising funds for a local retreat focused on providing free sabbaticals.
The Purple Cow, located on U.S. 231 in Cloverdale, will be celebrating its first anniversary Friday, May 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with hot dogs, coffee and cookies for patrons.
Manager Tonya Parr explained The Purple Cow was opened last May by Judi Butler to help raise money for the nearby Christian Retreat Campus, focused on offering free sabbaticals for preachers and ministers across the country. The shop features antique, vintage and unique items, with the proceeds being the primary source for the retreat campus.
Parr explained the purpose of the Retreat Campus is to "serve the servant."
"It's important to us because we feel like we are helping to serve the servants, is how she (Butler) usually puts it. Being a preacher, first of all, is an extremely hard job. So, this makes it possible for them to be able to get away and pray free of charge," Parr explained.
She said preachers from across the United States have visited the Retreat Campus, which is set on 120 acres of land and features two boarding cabins, a prayer cabin, walking trails and three ponds.
Parr said in the year and a half since the retreat began focusing on providing free sabbaticals for preachers, they have received a lot of positive feedback.
"We've had so many letters. They usually leave us little thank you letters saying it's exactly what they needed at that time in their life just to be able to get away and pray. It's exciting to hear their stories," Parr explained.
Parr said Butler has brought in the majority of items sold in the store, but the store also buys items on Tuesdays.
"She loves to junk and go picking, so she decided to open The Purple Cow. I'd say she picked about 90 percent of what's in this store herself," Parr said.
The employees do the research in order to price the items based on what they are worth.
"We especially love it when we get stories behind the pieces," Parr said.
Many different types of items come through The Purple Cow. Recently, Parr said they had an antique duck statue that came through that ended up being worth about $300.
"We call it vintage and uniques," Parr said in describing the inventory. "Things you're not going to just find anywhere. We have a lot of collectibles and furniture, household items, vintage jewelry, purses."
The shop features a recently completed garden store, a "Man Cave" complete with a Cadillac couch for sale and a 1950s style refrigerator. She added the purple chair at the front of the store is a big hit among visitors, but it is not for sale.
Parr said the shop's name was sparked by a personal story of Butler's, stemming from when she was a child. Butler would go to auctions with her grandmother, and found a purple cow figurine. The cow was broken, and she spent time looking for a replacement purple cow, which signified the connection with her grandma.
"And could you pass up a building with a purple cow on the roof?" Parr said, referring to the large mascot sitting on the building.
The Purple Cow is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.