From quiet to chaos: Kingswood neighborhood during rummage sale week

The Kingswood neighborhood in western Sioux Falls is generally pretty quiet.

You’ll see people chatting in their front yards if the weather is nice. There’s the occasional kid on a bike or person walking their dog. Around the holidays, people put up lights and decorations.

It’s a fairly stereotypical, well-established, suburban-style neighborhood.

That is unless it’s rummage sale week.

“It is so unbelievable,” said resident Bridget Myers, who also serves on the rummage sale board. “You think you know what busy is.”

The Kingswood Rummage Sale, which this year takes place April 28 through May 1, draws thousands of people from across the region to the neighborhood. It’s not just one rummage sale. It’s the largest one in South Dakota – a massive event with between 200 and 300 individual sales, and sellers in the neighborhood spend months preparing for the annual event.

It even has its own website.

“As soon as we put away stuff from last year, anything new that needs to get priced, we try to start pricing it,” said Larry Schnabel, another Kingswood resident serving on the rummage sale board. “For us, it’s a year-round effort.”

Schnabel’s not alone. Myers said she’s pricing items as soon as her kids outgrow them in anticipation of the next year’s sale.

By March, she had about 500 items priced already.

Many homes will put up tents outside to create more space for sales, and it’s not uncommon to see several families teaming up to sell at one home. Myers has 14 families selling at her place this year.

Even for those who aren’t in the rummage sale business, living in the Kingswood neighborhood during the sale is like living in a carnival.

Benjamin Tomczak came to the neighborhood in 2013 when he became the pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church on 26th Street and Valley View Road, and he said it quickly became comfortable and familiar.

“My daughter knows all the dogs by name because she’s petted them all,” Tomczak said.

His family doesn’t host a sale during rummage week but does take advantage of the deals they find in walking around their neighborhood. Sometimes, he’ll strategize with his son on items to look for. Other times, they’ll walk around and enjoy the food trucks that come out for the event.

“Every year, there’s something our kids need,” Tomczak said.

The week also brings ample opportunities for people-watching. One year, he saw a group of women pull up to the neighborhood in a limousine.

“They clearly were making a day of it,” he said jokingly.

For those who are selling, the rummage sales are a full-on business. Myers said her location averages between $5,000 and $10,000 in sales split among the families selling in her garage. That’s money she then uses to put toward buying the next years’ worth of clothes for her kids.

The rummage sale board also sells advertisements on the fliers promoting the sales, and the sale is advertised across five states, Myers said.

For purposes of the sale, the Kingswood neighborhood really is more than a neighborhood. It’s the entire area of southwest Sioux Falls between Interstate 29 and Ellis Road from 12th to 57th streets.

Some families even rent out their garages to interested sellers.

A quick look at this year’s listings reveals everything from a 2000 Chrysler convertible Sebring to state quarters.

One seller, advertising “classy crap,” promises an inflatable splash park, 12V John Deer Gator, 12V ATV, Nintendo Wii and women’s clothing  from Lululemon, Athleta/girl, Justice, Under Armour and Nike.

Another will combine handmade wood crafts such as birdhouses with a new fishing pole, golf clubs, smokers, kitchen appliances and PS4 games.

There’s even a list of garage sale etiquette tips.

First one: If the ad says the sale starts at 7 a.m., don’t show up at 6 a.m. or don’t drive by the night before in hopes of beating other shoppers to the bargains.

“Garage sale shoppers who peer in garage windows with flashlights or knock on doors at 6:30 a.m. give the rest of us shoppers a bad name,” it says.

And if you’re living in the neighborhood and not a fan of the busyness?

“If people don’t like it, they’re not home during Kingswood (rummage sale),” Myers said. “They go stay with someone else, or they leave town.”