By Jennifer Vazquez
Observer Correspondent
KEARNY – This upcoming weekend, Oct. 13 and 14, hundreds of residential, business and other sellers will participate in the town’s third annual Kearny Town-Wide Yard and Sidewalk Sale. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
The Kearny Urban Enterprise Zone is sponsoring, as well as organizing, the event and by the looks of it, it seems the yard sale will be a bona fide success –as nearly 300 sellers are registered to host sales.
“We currently have around 280,” KUEZ Department Head and yard sale founder and organizer John Peneda said. “But, we are expecting about 300 sellers that weekend.”
Another worthy notation about the yard and sidewalk sale is the fact that numerous KUEZ businesses, including eateries, will boast special sales and offers.
The event, as in previous years, is not only advertised to Kearny residents but to neighboring towns such as North Arlington, Belleville, Harrison and Nutley –among others.
The town-wide event was the idea of both Peneda and KUEZ special events coordinator Linda Kraus-D’Isa who saw the beneficial potential of hosting such an event.
“We were throwing ideas, back and forth, on how to bring people to Kearny,” Peneda explained. “One of my missions is…to get as many people to Kearny and businesses, hopefully, benefit.”
Cathy Fischer, owner of Cathy Hair Fashion Center, located on 828 Kearny Ave, and a KUEZ member, is one of the many business owners who will be taking part in the yard sale. She agrees on the positive impact an event like this could have on businesses in town.
“Only great things can come out of (the yard sale),” Fischer said. “This event will bring in a lot of people to town and hopefully benefit the businesses here.”
Fischer, like many other businesses taking part in this town wide initiative, are offering discounts on a variety of the services or products they offer.
“(Cathy Hair Fashion Center is) planning to offer discounts on products,” she explained. “We will also have baskets with different items and products for sale to all who are interested.”
The yard and sidewalk sale will include a slew of eclectic items. Everything from: clothing for all ages to furniture; electronics to houseware; home décor to tools; sports equipment and recreational items to toys; artwork to CDs and DVDs and much more.
Proceeds from individual sales go directly to the seller. The KUEZ is simply facilitating the event.
Margaret Berko will also be participating in the event as a resident seller. Though this is her first year taking part in the yard sale she is, not only excited, but also well aware of benefits it will bring to Kearny.
“(The event) gives people the chance to get rid of things they no longer want,” she said. “It will also bring out people from surrounding communities, not just Kearny and show the great things this town has to offer.”
To better aid and guide those that will attend this grand sale, KUEZ has created a yard sale map that contains both the residential and retailer sale locations. The map is found, not only in this week’s edition of The Observer, but at several locations around Kearny including Town Hall, the town library and the KUEZ office. The map can also be downloaded from Kearny’s official website, www.kearnynj.org.
The maps will provide a guide to the locations where all sellers, who are taking part in this event, will be placed throughout the town. It will also provide a short summary of the items that they will be selling.
KUEZ Kearny Town-Wide Yard and Sidewalk Sale will not have a rain date.