As people dealing with the culinary arts, George and Arlene Liechty have always dealt with knives. George, who retired from the Marriott Resort and Beach Club as a food and beverage director, continues to work in the culinary arts with
As people dealing with the culinary arts, George and Arlene Liechty have always dealt with knives.
George, who retired from the Marriott Resort and Beach Club as a food and beverage director, continues to work in the culinary arts with Arlene as personal chefs.
But the familiarity with knives and blades took on a new twist about six months ago after Arlene scribbled some notes while watching a Cable News Network piece on television.
Arlene ended up winning an auction, setting off a surprising adventure.
“It’s pretty much her thing,” George said, watching Arlene go through some of the many knives and multi-tools which were separated in different peanut butter boxes. “She does it all, goes out bidding, processing, listing and mailing out orders.”
Arlene, whose prowess in culinary is attested to by her winning several Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair recipe contests, stumbled upon an auction where items were confiscated from travelers at security points at airports, harbors and other transportation terminals.
Her collection is added to with items turned into transportation terminal Lost and Found departments.
“It’s amazing what people have when they try to travel,” Arlene said. “We just lost an auction yesterday, but today, we won one, so I think we came out ahead because the one we won has a better value.”
But winning the auction and getting the merchandise is another story because she said the package has to be picked up personally.
“We’re lucky because we have family who can pick up the boxes and mail them to us,” Arlene said. “In some cases, George will fly out to pick up the boxes and bring it home as baggage.”
With her first auction secured, Arlene said she set out to resell the items at a community garage sale.
“George was in the hospital and I was all alone, not knowing what to do,” Arlene said. “I just put out the different knives in a circle, and before I knew what was happening, people were handing me money. I just kept stuffing the bills in my pockets. I couldn’t even think because people just kept handing me money. I barely had time to take out more stock because people were just giving me money.”
The incident hooked her, and she expanded her efforts to eBay with similar results.
“I’ve met so many people and learned a lot in just six months,” Arlene said. “We have been getting phone calls from all over, and despite being labelled ‘U.S. Only,’ we got some calls from Israel asking how come they can’t bid, asking us to fix the system so they can bid.”
George said in the six months or so they’ve been doing this, Arlene has processed more than 2,000 orders for mailing to all parts of the country, and some internationally.
“There is nothing you cannot find on the Internet,” Arlene said, her fingers typing out “empty toilet paper rolls” and the computer answering with a page filled with different types of spools available.
During the recent Grove Farm swap meet at Puhi Park, Arlene and George had the same reception, their tables surrounded by shoppers and customers, one noting he needed to see if his surrendered multi-tool was among the selection.
“We had a multi-tool which looked to be a higher-priced model with a phone number engraved on it,” Arlene said. “George tried calling the number, but they never returned the call, assuming that after two years, the tool was lost.”
Arlene said she was surprised that personalized knives and multi-tools sell better than stock models. These include logo-ed items as well as a growing “collector” series where the words are emblazoned either on the blade, or on the body.
“I guess there are collectors out there,” she said, holding up a Swiss Army knife with “Marlboro” emblazoned on its red body. “See this button? It activates a flashlight. This model sold well.”
She said one of the things she’s learned by working with the constant movement of confiscated goods is the use of peanut butter boxes.
“It’s the only thing which fits on the shelves,” she said, pointing out forms she created to keep track of bidding activity on items as well as ending bid dates.
“The boxes are perfect for what we do.”
George and Arlene have plans to add a knife and multi-tool link to their personal chef website at www.foodbygeorge.com.
“We’ll have pictures and other information once the link is set up,” Arlene said. “That way, people can have access to the knives and tools without going through the bidding process.”
In the meantime, she plans on being at the next Grove Farm swap meet with more items.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
