Hospice Resale Shop Says Hats Off to Royal Wedding

If you can't attend today's royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Hospice Resale Shop invites you to share in the celebration by wearing a fancy hat.

Customers who come in from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today wearing a hat can enter into a contest to win gift certificates.

"We like to do fun things around here," said Debbie Ludvik, manager of the store at 5139 Mayfield Road. "We've been hearing about the royal wedding for 20 years now."

She said the hat theme was chosen because "hats are so big with Princess Kate."

"What better way to have a good time with our customers?" added Ludvik, who planned to get up at 4 a.m. to watch the festivities.

Of course, Earl Grey tea will be served and British music will be played in the store.

Photographs will be taken of all contest entrants and winners will be named based on customer voting the following week. Winners will be announced the week of May 9, with $25 gift certificates for funniest hat and most unusual hat and a $50 gift certificate for best in show hat.

Proceeds from Hospice Resale Shop benefit Hospice of the Western Reserve to help patients and their families. Everything in the store has been donated.

"We have a lot of loyal donors, families that have been touched by hospice," Ludvik said.

She emphasized that it is not a thrift shop and while there are bargains to be had, it's more about quality merchandise for good value.

"We get a lot of new merchandise," Ludvik said.

Some donated items are also passed along to patients who are in need. She remembers a circumstance in which a patient wanted a reclining chair and one was donated that day.

"It always seems that if we're in need of something it appears," Ludvik said. "She said that when her husband saw the chair it was like Christmas."

She said moments like that make her job rewarding. She also enjoys special events, like today's royal wedding theme and the annual goodbye to winter sale, when prices on winter clothes are reduced by a percentage based on the temperature in a warm weather city – say, 69 degrees in Las Vegas.

"We also do a farewell to summer sale," Ludvik said. "I have a good time coming up with different gimmicks."