Mystery Resale Shopping Bus Tours’ fleet of locally contracted buses which travel from St. Pete, Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice, Fort Myers and Naples (plus towns in between) have been parked since April because of the pandemic.
Patti Clark, owner, says, “You read about the airlines, trains, beaches, retail shops, restaurants and how they are affected, however the motor coach bus industry has been extremely affected, too. We have been hit hard by the impact of the COVID-19 shutdowns. Not only our resale shopping bus tours, but also the motor coaches that move military personnel, athletes, students and youths and other local travel groups in our area.”
Clarks Bus Tours started up five years ago to build awareness about the local resale community including thrift stores, boutiques, resale shops, vintage, antiques, flea-indoor and outdoor markets, consignments and more. Each attendee receives a copy of The Happy Thrifter: A guide to all of our resale community. The tour is over 130 miles of shopping fun, with a handy dandy map, so participants can go back and shop again. With over 300 locations are listed, the guide really does come in handy for locals and snowbirds alike. It’s a win-win for the resale merchants. Plus, these Mystery Resale Shopping Bus Tours are just so much darn fun!
Patti’s tours start up in December and run into late May. They are called Mystery Resale Shopping Bus Tours because they don’t disclose the locations until participants are on the bus. It’s a day-long shop-till-you-resale-drop adventure where shoppers are treated like Resale Queens and Kings and driven around on a beautiful luxury motor coach bus. The trip includes lunch, contests, gifts and discounts from the mystery resale merchants, swag bags, and so much more! This is such a popular memorable, fun-filled, relaxing, shopping extravaganza, they sell out in just minutes once the tour dates are released the first week of November. To request a tour list visit Thehappythriftershopper.com.
Mystery Resale Shopping Bus Tours has also added more resale tours traveling to more locations in 2021. The company is proud to have created jobs for 14 wonderful new Bus Tour Guides, and typically returns $10,000 back to the community from sales and lunches from each tour. “That really adds up with all the tours we have each year,” says Patti.
This season, Mystery Resale Shopping Bus Tours will follow CDC guidelines for facemasks or shields, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizers. And because the demographics of its participants are generally older shoppers, the company is inherently more cautious as it begins booking for tours starting in November, and maybe two in December 2020—fingers crossed!
“There is a bring spot waiting at the end of this pandemic,” says Patti. “When the all-clear signal is given to move about in southwest Florida via the motor coach bus way, everyone will be so energized as far as getting our tours going and feeling normal again. Everyone misses resale shopping.”
Clark adds, “We’re going to get back to normal. We’re going to get through this. When we do, we’ll be ready to run and look forward, once again, to building awareness about our resale community with bunches of fun Resale Queens and Kings on our tours. The wheels on the bus will go round and round again! We are a ‘thrifter strong’ company and really are all about our community!”
Thehappythriftershopper.com. Thehappythriftershopper@gmail.com. 816-352-0975