Latest news with #Carmen
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tampa woman turns to Ramsey Show hosts after her brother refused to repay a car loan she took out to help him
Four years ago, Carmen from Tampa, FL, did her brother a solid by letting him move into her home when he was low on cash. She didn't charge him rent and she even took out a car loan for him — in her name. Fast forward to now, and their fortunes are reversed. Carmen needs the money, but her brother doesn't want to repay the car loan. During an episode of The Ramsey Show, Carmen said her brother has 'fully recovered' from his financial woes. He works on commission, has stocks, CDs and retirement savings, and 'is living a good life,' she said. Yet, when it comes to the car loan, he told his sister he wasn't going to 'take that upon my credit.' As Carmen pondered whether she should pay off the remaining loan herself — which is around $11,000 — co-host Ken Coleman told her: 'You know what you're supposed to do.' Don't miss Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it What happened? Carmen's husband made a career switch that she says will eventually pay off, but in the meantime, they're bringing in less money. And to get a mortgage, they were told by their lender that they need to get rid of the car loan debt first. Carmen didn't just co-sign the loan; she put it under her name. So her brother is making monthly payments to Carmen on a car that's not in his name and that 'he's never going to own,' said co-host Jade Warshaw. If he's not willing to pay back the full amount of the loan, then Carmen has every right to repossess the vehicle. 'That is not mean, Carmen. That is not a bad sister,' said Warshaw. 'That is just you doing something that is very normal and fair by saying, 'if I'm paying for a car that's in my name, I'm going to be the one owning it and driving it.'' If her brother wants to keep making monthly payments, 'then he needs to go rent a car,' said Warshaw. Carmen said a private seller would pay $19,000 for the vehicle. 'I would go get that car from your brother today and sell it instantaneously,' said Coleman. At that point, her brother can decide whether he wants to buy the car from her, in which case he can pay back his sister for the full amount of the loan and she can transfer the title over to him. If he's not interested in buying it, she can find another buyer and pay back the loan from the proceeds. Still, Carmen is hesitant because she doesn't want to cause a rift in the family. 'It already has,' said Warshaw. 'The damage you're worried about being done has already been done.' Warshaw said she wants Carmen to be respected. 'It's a disrespectful transaction and if you let it continue, he's not just disrespecting you — you're disrespecting yourself at that point.' Read more: Americans are 'revenge saving' to survive — but millions only get a measly 1% on their savings. Should you loan a family member money? While you may want to help out a family member in need, a 'friends and family' loan should still be treated as any other loan. Otherwise, you could consider the money a gift (particularly if you don't think you'll ever see that money again). About one-third of U.S. adults have provided financial support to friends or family, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It could make sense in some circumstances — for example, parents may loan their adult child some money when they're just starting out in their career or don't yet have a credit history to qualify for a loan. Whatever the case, if you're thinking about lending money to a friend or family member, first consider your own financial situation — for example, it's probably not a good idea to drain your own emergency fund to pay for a family member's emergency. And, if you do have some extra cash, how much of it can you afford to part with and for how long? If you do lend money to a friend or family member, put it in writing (you can find several options for templates online by searching under loan agreements). This contract should outline the terms of the loan, such as when you expect it to be repaid (either in a lump sum or a series of payments over a specified period of time). You should also specify whether you'll be charging interest on the loan (perhaps the rate you'd be getting if that money was sitting in your high-interest savings account) and what the consequences will be if they can't pay you back. For example, in Carmen's case, if she had made her brother sign a contract before getting a car loan, she could have specified that she'd take back possession of the vehicle if he didn't pay back the loan in full by a certain period of time. Another option is co-signing a loan, but only do so if you trust this person — not because you're feeling pressured by your family to do so. A co-signer is a person 'who agrees to be legally responsible for someone else's debt,' according to Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S., along with Experian and TransUnion. This provides a safety net to lenders, but it also means the co-signer is legally responsible for that debt if the borrower is unable to pay it back. Plus, if you're the co-signer, that debt will show up on your credit report and could influence your credit score and/or debt-to-income ratio. If the borrower fails to make payments, that will harm your credit rating — and it will likely put a strain on your relationship. If you're already in that situation, like Carmen, there's no easy way out. 'We didn't say this was going to be fun but… it's already not fun,' said Coleman, 'so let's go ahead and rip the band-aid off and take possession of the car.' What to read next Robert Kiyosaki warns of 'massive unemployment' in the US due to the 'biggest change' in history — and says this 1 group of 'smart' Americans will get hit extra hard. Are you one of them? How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you'll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Sign in to access your portfolio
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nicole Car's Rusalka glows with moonlit grace and tragic depth
OPERA Rusalka. Opera Australia Sydney Opera House. July 19 Reviewed PETER McCALLUM ★★★★½ Making a welcome and triumphant return to Sydney, Nicole Car sang the title role of Rusalka with all the warmth, strength and depth of humanity that notionally eludes the operatic character she portrays. I say 'notionally' because Rusalka is an allegory for a person who, in failing to understand human fickleness, superficiality and venality, ends by performing the most deeply human act of compassion, sacrifice and love. Car is at her magnificent best when opening out climactically at the peak of phrases with thrilling sound and immaculate melodic arc, but the sound is evenly controlled and shaded across the full range. She unfolded the lines of the opera's most well-known aria, Song to the Moon, with gentle reserve, allowing the melody's natural grace to place a stamp of beauty on this mysterious tale at its outset. It is a performance that fulfils in every respect the exciting promise Car revealed in her earliest roles with Opera Australia (including as Michaela in Carmen, one of the first roles in which she attracted listeners' ears). Tenor Gerard Schneider sang her Prince with attractive light sound and Disneyesque good looks, true in pitch and tone and unforced in expression. As the Water King, Warwick Fyfe maintains a fierce, fretful and doom-laden tone, his chief narrative function being to warn that this isn't going to end well. His appearance in this role accentuated the resonance of Dvorak's opening scene with that of Wagner's Rheingold, in which Fyfe sang a ferocious Alberich in 2023. As though to clinch the connection, director Sarah Giles has chosen to locate this scene not beside the lake, as the stage directions say, but in it. Charles Davis's set, David Bergman's projections and Paul Jackson's lighting create this illusion deftly, conjuring a sense of strangeness and, later, of alienation from the brightly lit vacuousness of the human world. Poetically, the water is the cool subconscious, linked with the unsullied but austere purity of moonlight, which, though corrupted by human contact, remains an ideal of chaste beauty that the Prince aspires to but can attain only in death. By contrast, the human scenes in the castle are filled with paper-cutout people. In this world, Natalie Aroyan has a glowering edge to her tone as Rusalka's flouncing rival, the Duchess. Just as Dvorak leavens the gloom with folk-like music (anticipating the stylistic collisions that his compatriot Janacek was later to exploit), Giles mixes the opera's sorrowful aspect with comedy.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Cattle Battle: How wolves and livestock collide – and how one Idaho project offers solutions
Ranchers Jay and Chyenne Smith raise Black Angus cattle near the tiny town of Carmen, Idaho. The ranch is located just over the ridge from one of the original sites of wolf reintroduction, and the Smiths say wolves have killed more than 200 of their cattle in the past 20 years. (Photo courtesy of Jay and Chyenne Smith) This is the fourth installment of Howl, a five-part written series and podcast season produced in partnership between the Idaho Capital Sun, States Newsroom and Boise State Public Radio. Read the first installment, Carter's Hope, the second installment, River of No Return, and the third installment, Fixing Yellowstone. Idaho rancher Jay Smith has a wolf problem. Over the last 20 years, Smith said wolves have killed more than 200 of his cattle and caused major financial harm to his family's business. 'At today's value at nearly $2,000 a head, times that by 200 and see if we could have invested that money over time what would that have been?' Smith said. 'Significant.' Smith and his wife, Chyenne, raise Black Angus cattle near the town of Carmen, a tiny community near the Continental Divide, just west of the Montana border. Jay grew up nearby; his family has been ranching in the area since 1924. Last year, the family celebrated its centennial on the land. But their history goes back even longer. Smith has a family history book documenting cattle ownership back to the 1600s. 'So my family's cattle raising lineage goes way back,' Smith said. There's something else that goes way back in Smith's family: Warnings about wolves that have been passed down through the generations. The J Lazy S Angus Ranch is situated in a green valley set in the shadows of high mountain peaks, some of which rise above 10,000 feet. Wildfire smoke often hangs in the air during the summer. And on the other side of the valley, the Salmon River cuts through the landscape. The ranch features a classic red barn, a horse corral, an assortment of farm machinery and a renovated old cabin surrounded by shade trees. They have a small herd of Morgan-Quarter Horse crossbreeds and an array of cattle dogs that go everywhere with the Smiths, including high up in the surrounding mountains. 'One of the main reasons Chyenne and I bought this place is A, because ranching is in my blood,' Smith said. 'But B, it's exactly how we wanted to raise our children. I wanted them to have the work ethic and the animal husbandry background that I grew up with. I think it's very important.' Running cattle and working the ranch is all he's ever known, and Smith wouldn't trade it for anything. 'I don't know if you ever watch TV, but I got to be a cowboy every day of my life, so I don't know how you go wrong there,' Smith said. '(There is) a lot of freedom. These ranches are big, and so we had a lot of private property where us kids could go a long ways without getting in trouble or being in the wrong spot. And I don't know how a city kid could ever get their head around that, but we could literally go for miles and not be somewhere we shouldn't be.' The Smiths' several hundred cattle have a lot of room to roam, too. During summers, the cows live in the high country. They spend 12 to 16 weeks each in a cow camp way up in the mountains, roaming far and wide on public land. And that's where they run into trouble with wolves. Only a few ridgelines separate Smith's ranch from wolf ground zero: one of the original sites of reintroduction 30 years ago – Corn Creek in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. From their porch on the ranch, Jay and Chyenne Smith can see the Diamond Moose Grazing allotment, where wolves have a track record killing and harassing livestock, Smith said. 'It's been one of the most consistently conflicted allotments throughout the years,' Smith said. Jay Smith was 22 years old in 1995 when the government reintroduced wolves. He has seen ranching before wolves were reintroduced and the difference the animals made after they were reintroduced. 'We worked really hard to keep (reintroduction) from happening,' Smith said. 'And then when it became inevitable and we could see the writing on the wall, then we started trying to position ourselves for how to live with the inevitable. It was coming. We've been here 100 years. We're not leaving. So now how do we make this work?' Not only do the wolves literally eat into their business, but every time the Smiths or other ranchers speak out or try to do something about it, they say they are vilified. 'The negativity and the hate towards ranchers is worse than the wolves, in my opinion, and it's because the public's been fed this fairy tale of what wolves are,' Chyenne Smith said. 'And we're the bad guys in every one of those stories.' Jay Smith said he hasn't seen a nickel in compensation for the livestock wolves killed. 'We have been paid for zero head ever,' he said. Although Smith said he hasn't been paid for any of his livestock losses, other Idaho ranchers have. The state of Idaho has a compensation program to reimburse livestock owners the fair market value of animals that are killed by wolves or grizzly bears. It applies to cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, chicken, llamas and even bees – basically any animal used for food or in food production. From 2014 to 2022, the state of Idaho's livestock compensation program paid out $687,029.50 to 299 different livestock producers for compensation for verified livestock losses, state records show. But to be paid, livestock owners must have a confirmed wolf kill claim filed with the Office of Species Conservation each year. 'In the topography we run in, we can't find them in time,' Smith said. 'They just simply don't come home. We'll find a pile of bones. We'll find wolf scat right on top of those bones. I mean, we know what happened to them. But as far as Wildlife Services coming in and being able to make a confirmation report to send to the Office of Species Conservation to put us in the reimbursement program, we are zero for 200. That's our batting average.' State records show that most investigations of wolf complaints don't conclude that wolves were definitely responsible. From July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, Idaho Wildlife Services investigated 99 complaints of livestock losses blamed on wolves, state records show. About 28% of those investigations ruled wolves' responsibility for livestock deaths were 'confirmed' or 'probable.' But more than two-thirds of the wolf complaints, about 68%, were classified as 'possible/unknown.' In some cases, wolves may have eaten the carcass of livestock after the animal was already dead but did not kill the animal. Smith said his losses add up. 'We have lost over 200 head of livestock in that 20-plus years to wolves,' Jay Smith said. 'One year we'll lose 20 head of cattle, and one year we'll lose zero,' he added. 'And we just never quite know how to explain or how to do better, or how to mitigate that risk. It's very variable, and it's very unknown. But it's remained over the years. It hasn't gone away. It sounds like it's come and gone, but the wolves are still back there.' And even if wolves don't kill livestock like cows and sheep, even the presence of wolves can distress animals enough that they aren't as healthy and wouldn't be worth as much at market. But wolf supporters say the number of livestock killed is extremely low. In Idaho, Montana and Wyoming wolves are confirmed to have killed an average of less than 300 domestic animals per year – out of 6 million cows and sheep in those states. But even if the overall numbers and percentages are low, the cost is high for the farming and ranching families like the Smiths. With 30 years of experience since reintroduction and all the claims made by wolf advocates and all the meetings with the feds, nothing has changed Smith's mind about wolves. He opposed reintroducing wolves, and now that they are here, Smith thinks there are too many of them. As a result, he thinks ranchers should be given broad authority to kill wolves to protect their livestock. And as the chairman of his local county's Republican Party central committee, Smith has helped make that happen. He said he co-wrote a 2021 state law that helped make it easier to kill more wolves by expanding when and how they can be hunted and trapped. The law allows hunters to purchase an unlimited number of wolf tags to kill wolves and makes trapping on private land legal year round. 'There's still people vehemently against every proposal we have,' Smith said. 'And I don't know why. We're not out to kill them all. We're just out to make a living and keep our livelihoods.' Chyenne Smith agreed. 'It's about not being able to do everything we can to protect what's ours when we need to,' she said. When there are problems with wolves harassing or killing livestock, ranchers often call on trappers to catch the predators. And one of the best people at trapping wolves is Rusty Kramer. He's the president of the Idaho Trappers Association and the incoming president of the National Trappers Association. Whether it's badgers, beavers, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, muskrats or wolves, if it's legal to trap in Idaho, Kramer has probably caught it. Depending on the animals, he's used scent lures, bait or even blind set traps, hoping to entice an animal to step on a silver dollar-sized pan, which triggers the trap's jaws to lose around the wolf's foot and seize hold. Once a wolf is trapped, Kramer shoots it behind the shoulder with his .22 magnum pistol, killing it. Since wolves were reintroduced, he's trapped and killed 25 to 30. Kramer was born and raised in Fairfield, Idaho, near the Sawtooth National Forest in central Idaho. 'I just learned how to trap looking over my dad's shoulder and riding around with him and just kind of fell in love with it as a kid and I've been doing it ever since,' Kramer said. It started as damage control, trapping ground squirrels and marmots, also known as rock chucks, to protect the alfalfa. Later, he moved on to coyotes and muskrats. Kramer's father taught him how to process and sell the pelts, stressing the importance of using every part of the animal. As a kid, the pelts put a little extra money in his pocket. For him, trapping is a way of life and a family tradition. Today, Kramer said the Idaho Trappers Association runs the largest fur sale in the United States, in Glenns Ferry, where a trapper can make good money for a wolf pelt. A quality wolf pelt can go for $500 or more. For 10 years as an adult, Kramer lived in Boise – the state's largest city – about a 90-minute drive from Fairfield. After Micron Technology laid him off, Kramer returned to Fairfield. But it's tough to make a living on trapping alone, and Kramer also runs an alfalfa farm and is the watermaster for his local water district. It's the farm where Kramer and other farmers run into trouble with wolves. Ever since wolves came back, Kramer says, a lot more elk are hanging out in the valley where he and many other farmers grow alfalfa. He says the elk hang out there to keep safe from wolves, who tend to avoid agricultural areas because of the human presence. The elk trample the fields and eat the alfalfa, creating a headache and a cost for Rusty. 'I don't hate wolves,' Kramer said. 'I very (much) admire wolves. How far they can roam and how cunning they are and survive out there.' But he thinks it was a mistake to reintroduce wolves to Idaho. 'I'm under the opinion it would be cool to snap your fingers and it's back to 'Dances with Wolves' days,' Kramer said, referring to the 1990 movie starring Kevin Costner. 'You know, where it's buffalo from Ohio to Oregon and grizzlies and wolves. But there's only so many places that grizzlies, wolves and buffalo can have in the 21st century, because they just roam so far. These aren't foxes and coyotes that can live around humans.' 'There's just not enough space for them in the 21st century, in my opinion,' Kramer said. Suzanne Asha Stone is trying to to demonstrate that ranchers can live side-by-side with wolves today. Thirty years ago, Stone was an intern working on the wolf reintroduction project. Since then, she's become a prominent wolf expert and advocate. She is the executive director of the International Wildlife Coexistence Network and a co-founder of the Wood River Wolf Project in Idaho. Lately, Stone has been focusing on helping ranchers protect sheep and cattle without killing wolves. Stone said the catalyst for the work was a 'train wreck' of conflict between wolves and sheep in 2007 in central Idaho's Blaine County. Unaware that wolves were denning with pups in the area, a rancher let out his flock of sheep with some livestock guardian dogs for protection, Stone said. 'So to wolves, having those dogs come in meant that they had strange wolves coming in and were a significant threat to their pups,' Stone said. 'The rancher, of course, didn't know this. He had no idea that the wolves were there. But within 24 hours, we had dead sheep, dead livestock guardian dogs and a (wolf) pack with a death warrant on their head.' Stone said the community came together after the event to look for a way to project sheep and wolves. 'It was at that time that the residents of Blaine County pushed back hard and said, 'We really enjoy having wolves here. We had our own little Yellowstone happening right in our backyard, where we could go out and watch these wolves and their pups, and we want to keep them alive,'' Stone said. From there, Stone sat down at the table with ranchers in the area, as well as an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services. Stone said just about everyone was skeptical, even wolf biologists who wanted to keep more wolves alive. 'And so we sat down with all of them and then reached out to the ranchers and just said, 'Let us try these nonlethal tools. Now everybody's telling us we're going to fail, but let's try and see what happens,'' Stone said. Stone started using something called fladry. It's nothing more than a barrier of waving flags, but it has proven successful to deter wolves in Eastern Europe and help sell high-mileage Hondas stateside. 'It looks like the flagging that sits around used car lots, basically,' Stone said. 'It doesn't look intimidating to us at all. Wolves don't like it. They don't trust it. And so we were able to keep the sheep behind those fladry pens for the rest of the season without having a single other loss. And the wolves were right there raising their pups for a good part of that summer. No more incidents at all.' Stone's critics called it beginner's luck and questioned whether she could replicate her results over long periods of time or large areas. That led to the creation of the Wood River Wolf Project, which for the last 17 summers has been partnering with ranchers in the area to use non-lethal tools and techniques to protect sheep from wolves. The project area covers about 4,600 square miles of rugged, mountainous terrain. Stone says there's no one-size-fits-all solution to wolf conflicts – different terrain, different predator behavior, even varying access to electricity can affect what works. So, she'll try just about anything – and her group has over the years. They've used lights, blasted air horns and played recordings to scare wolves away. In one case, wolves were feasting on llamas at an eastern Oregon ranch. So Stone's team set up those 20-foot air dancers you see at car lots and lit them up at night. 'So when the wolves came over the top of the hill, they saw this enormous monster up there flapping around and making all kinds of noise, and oh my gosh, they were in the next county the next day,' she said. 'We've only lost two wolves in the 17 years now of the project and an average of less than five sheep a year for that entire 17-year period,' Stone said. 'So it's the lowest loss of livestock to wolves in any area where wolves and livestock overlap in the Western United States, probably beyond that. It's a very successful project, and we use less money than what they do to kill wolves outside of the project area, where they're losing more livestock there.' But Stone hasn't convinced everyone. In fact, one key holdout is her own state government. Even when nonlethal methods of wolf control are available, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's written policy preference is to kill wolves to reduce the overall wolf population in the state. 'A lot of what we've learned here is being applied in countries all over the world, just not in the state of Idaho, and not to any real extent beyond our project area, because the state is so determined to kill wolves rather than to live with them,' Stone said. Idaho Capital Sun, like the Oregon Capital Chronicle, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@
Web Release
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Web Release
BRIX CAFÉ TRANSFORMS INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND TO BEAT THE SUMMER HEAT
While Dubai turns up the heat, BRIX Café is taking things in the opposite direction – straight into the snow-dusted charm of the Swiss Alps. The awardwinning dessert destination by World's 50 Best Pastry Chef 2025, Carmen Rueda Hernández, is proud to unveil its new summer takeover: 'Davos in Dubai.' Inspired by the global spotlight moment earlier this year, when BRIX Café was invited to present chef Carmen's pastry creations at the prestigious World Economic Forum in Davos, the venue now brings that frosty Alpine fantasy home with a bold new seasonal concept. Nestled by the harbour, the café has been reimagined into a winter wonderland escape – a refuge of cool, calm, and curated indulgence that turns summer on its head. Each year, the harbour-side dessert destination reinvents its space to reflect a new mood. This year, the narrative took a chilled turn. Think coconut nitro snow melting over a strawberrylychee core, Chocolate On The Rocks like a Caribbean cocktail, and truffle mousse so airy it feels like a winter fog rolling in from the Alps. The menu doesn't shy away from indulgence, but it's thoughtfully balanced with refreshing textures, zesty notes, and icy finishes that make every bite a reprieve from the heat. Drinks too, are crafted with cooling in mind – whether it's the Rimal, a cold brew laced with Liwa dates and desert spices, or The Ghaf, a bottled hibiscus and grapefruit spritz that pays tribute to the UAE's national tree. There's even a twist on 'iced hot chocolate' – a playful nod to après-ski culture with a tropical touch. For those eager to experience more than a single dish, BRIX Café's Experiences Menu offers curated journeys through Chef Carmen's frosty world. Each experience pairs a house-made drink, savoury bite, and plated dessert under one set price, perfect for mid-afternoon escapes or laid-back catch-ups. Whether you're in search of a moment of calm, a sweet escape, or a creative culinary experience, BRIX Café's Davos in Dubai is redefining how summer tastes. Under Chef Carmen's visionary leadership, every dessert is not just plated but performed, bringing together temperature, texture, and storytelling.
Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
People are coming hundreds of miles to my shop - I'm under so much pressure
Some people travel for six hours to get to the store after videos went viral on Tiktok A woman has been plunged into "constant panic" after her £1 thrift warehouse became an overnight sensation on TikTok, leading to a deluge of customers. Carmen Croxall launched the Thrift Warehouse and Secondhand Craft Shop in Exeter, driven by concerns over the waste produced by charity shops. Utilising a vacant warehouse from a previous business attempt, the mother took it upon herself to address the issue, offering surplus items from charity shops at just £1 each to prevent them from ending up in landfill. However, a TikTok video showcasing her initiative went viral, and Carmen found herself swamped with shoppers, some journeying hundreds of miles for a bargain. "I feel under intense pressure," the 37 year old entrepreneur confided to Absolutely Business.. Following the video's explosion in popularity, the recent school holidays saw Carmen's warehouse besieged by customers. In just one week, they shifted an astonishing 12,000 items. But the once ample stockpile, accumulated over months, rapidly dwindled, and the initial positive feedback turned bitter. Carmen explained, "We rely completely on donations, so we can't just order new stock. "The shelves look bare every day." Disappointed visitors have begun leaving negative reviews, lamenting the wasted journey and the lack of variety compared to what was depicted in the video. "But I couldn't control any of this." Desperate for more donations, she even proposed extending opening hours until 7 pm to accommodate drop-offs. "I think I worked until at least 10 pm [through the school holidays]. "I felt so much pressure from people coming from far away – I'm a people pleaser and didn't want people to leave disappointed. "It just wasn't sustainable at all." The warehouse, which debuted in February, has surged in popularity recently after Carmen began sharing updates about it on her TikTok page, which has amassed 117,000 followers. Operating as a not-for-profit CIC (community interest company), the aim of the warehouse is to serve the community rather than to turn a profit. Still, Carmen feels that this purpose has been overlooked, with an emphasis shifting away from their 'give and take' approach, which anticipates donations from customers too. She aimed to create a space where families could obtain what they need affordably whilst also preventing items from going to landfill. But with visitors arriving from cities afar, the likelihood of them contributing back wanes, undermining the 'sharing concept' she deems "really important for our sharing concept". She emphasised: "We encourage people to donate back, but if you're visiting once because it's a TikTok trend, then you're not really going to do that." Previously a play centre, Carmen found it challenging to manage the enterprise post-COVID. Earlier this year, Carmen heralded the advent of this new project and was swiftly overwhelmed with contributions. Expressing the quick success, she declared, "It was very quick to take off. "We had so many donations that we kept expanding into different parts of the warehouse and putting up shelving and racking. We decided to sell everything for £1 to make it really simple and affordable. "We don't sell items to people who resell them – you can buy items worth £100 and £200 here for only £1, so we are all about community and sharing items. The £1 can be viewed as a processing fee as it just about covers our costs. "My fear is that resellers would capitalise on the concept and completely devalue the purpose of it being affordable, as, if you resell an item for profit, then it will become unaffordable to some people by default. "This has become a huge part of what we do, but it was necessary to guarantee its success." A recent bank holiday was described as 'insanely busy'. Carmen said: "It was borderline a bit scary. At one point in the middle of the day, it was so busy people were queuing outside just to get in – it felt more like a dance floor at times. "The busy flurry of people continued all week. A family made a six-hour round trip in a day from Farnham. "People came from Bristol, St Ives, and Bournemouth. It worries me that people might come and not find anything to buy, whereas it wouldn't be as disappointing if a person who had only travelled 20 minutes didn't find anything. "We had a one-star review on Google saying it was a wasted trip, don't bother, but I feel that a shop like ours, you need to visit a lot and buy little things here and there, not plan a massive spending spree, as the stock changes so quickly. "On a good day, we can get out around 2,000 new items, so it's like a new shop or seven day a seven-day-a-week car boot sale." Carmen is currently toiling away every day of the week at the warehouse trying to cement its foundation, but she notes that, overall, her experience has been "amazing" – and she's doing essential work for the local community, which has greatly taken to the 'give and take' ethos.
