The Mole Hole’s owner, Patsy Williams, is used to an eclectic life.
Her father managed different farms so she spent time in Lambert and Indianola and back until finally settling in Indianola while in high school. She attended Ruleville Public Schools and started her working career after graduation. With an impressive work resume that reads like a roadmap of Sunflower County, Williams’ first job was at McDonald’s. She then worked various jobs for her family, then as an ad rep for a Cleveland radio station, then to The Enterprise-Tocsin before working for her brother-in-law on his farm as an accountant. She then worked at Burton Funeral Home for a few years, but after her mom and sister passed away she decided to make another career change and challenge.
“The store came up for sale, and I was back-and-forth, and I’d go look at it,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘do I want to do this?’”
Having “always liked clothes, of course, women like clothes. And I talked to Dana Branch who owned the store and she walked me through a lot, she told me a lot and taught me a lot. But I wanted to take the store in a new direction.”
She looked at the store with that direction in mind and knew that Indianola and the surrounding area love resale and consignment stores. She left her job in September and worked at the store for free for three weeks to see if it’s what she really wanted to do. Williams then bought the store on October 1 and hasn’t looked back. And she’s relied on her background to make it all work for everyone.
“You learn from your mistakes and you figure out what works for you and your customers and your consigners. It’s been a challenge and hard work but I love it. I love meeting everyone who comes in. If there’s a complaint, I want to hear it and if there’s a compliment, I want to hear it. It works both ways, I’ve got to hear it all. So far it’s working out great. The response has been amazing and the community has really welcomed me.”
The 1,500-square-foot consignment shop and resale store offers men’s and women’s clothes, shoes, handbags, household and kitchen items, baby items, bedding and more.
“We’re looking at adding more home goods in the very near future. Small furniture. People are asking for those things. I like that,” she said. “And I flipped the store. I brought all the housewares to the front. My husband told me this is right up my alley because I’m always moving things around the house. I get to play house at the store and redecorate.”
And then there’s the story of the store’s name.
“The Mole Hole. People are always asking, ‘How did you come up with that?’ It’s funny. When I really put the thought into it, I didn’t want the average name with ‘re’ in the name. In advertising you ‘think outside the box’ and thought of several but didn’t like them. Then I started thinking about resale stores and they are always stacked up and you have to dig around. And I thought about a groundhog or mole and I liked that. Come in and dig around and you never know what you’ll find at The Mole Hole.”
With one part-time worker, Williams spends most of her time at the store taking in consignments when room is available.
“We’ve had so many consigners, I have to say no because I don’t have room and that’s a good problem to have. The public has really been great and we have so many new consigners since we started the store,” she said.
With so much coming in, Williams works hard to do the best for her consigners to get their merchandise on the sales floor within days of receiving it.
“We have some things in storage and I date the tags the day I put them on the floor so your consignment starts the day it hits the floor, not the day you brought it in,” she said.
Located in the Lovelace Shopping Center, at 612 North Sunflower Avenue in Indianola, The Mole Hole is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In March Williams plans to expand the hours.
“Come dig around with us at The Mole Hole.”
