Heirloom Estate Sales offers family-friendly service during tough times

DeKALB – A sense of community has always been important to Heirloom Estate Sales owner Cris Frye.

She started working for the estate liquidator company in 2015 under her aunt, Pam Faivre, and Faivre’s sister, Mary Martin. It didn’t take her long to understand everyone goes through misfortunes in life, whether it be the death of a family member or a need to downsize homes.

Frye and her husband, Rob, both know those stages in life can be overwhelming, so they try to make transitions as smooth as possible. Their family-friendly approach to the business has resulted in an increased amount of sales since Frye took over the company in November, she said. They average two to four sales a month.

“We’ve all lost a loved one and had to figure out what to do next,” Frye said. “A company like ours can help put the family at ease.

“We make transitions go smoother,” she said.

Frye and Rob work out of their home in DeKalb but rent a storage space at 560 DeKalb Ave. in Sycamore to temporarily house some items. The couple also owns a decorated moving truck, which they use during each estate sale.

The company spends one to four weeks pricing and getting ready for each sale, depending on the size of the house. Leftover items that don’t sell are either cleaned out by the family or Heirloom Estate Sales.

Knowing the DeKalb County area is an obvious benefit to staying in business, Frye said.

“We’re a very private company,” she said. “We’re not outsiders. We make customers feel very well connected to us. It’s important to have that sense of community. We gain a lot of our customers through other customers. A lot of it is word of mouth.”

Heirloom Estate Sales employs eight team members to help with various moves around the county, according to Frye.

Frye said she isn’t in the estate business for the money. Typical commissions on a sale run 35 to 50 percent.

“Our goal is to set up a home to the point where it looks like you’re at a store,” she said. “It takes a village and we have a great team. Without them, it wouldn’t all come together.”