Owner of Michigan Second Hand Shop Knows Resident Spirit First Hand

She's mischievous but friendly, the lady ghost said to haunt a Grand Haven consignment shop, and she fancies formal wear.

She seems to like the formals on the balcony," said Linda Forbes, owner of Second Impression, 310 Fulton Ave. "She's often dinked around with those."

Kate Koopman, a mother of three who was murdered in November 1922 by her husband on the stairway of their home, has never left — at least not in spirit, Forbes said.

That house, built in the late 1800s, has been home to a consignment shop since 1992. Forbes, who bought the business 13 years ago, said it is Grand Haven's oldest clothing consignment store.

"When I moved here 12 years ago, it was the only one in town," said Rebecca Ramsey of Grand Haven, a customer and consignor.

Kate Koopman was found by her son at the bottom of the stairs a day after her murder. She had a bullet wound in her back, according to local historian Wallace Ewing.

Amberrose Hammond — who leads a local paranormal investigation group called Michigan's Otherside — said Kate's husband, Peter Koopman II, was eventually convicted of the murder. However, Hammond said that in her research of the subject, it appears Peter never admitted that he killed his wife.

Forbes isn't the only one who believes Kate's ghost hangs around the shop. A former employee claims she once saw what she said was Kate's ghost descending the stairway.

Forbes said she has found the front door open when she knows for certain it was closed and locked, the radio turned on and off when no one is around, clothing scattered around and shoes "turned every which way," and the upstairs bathtub — the home's original tub — mysteriously filled with water.

"But for the most part, she's a pretty quiet ghost," Forbes said.

Hammond's paranormal group was asked by Forbes to investigate the alleged haunting in the summer of 2007.

"We got a really disturbing (audio recording) of the voice of a woman saying, 'I'm not happy' three times," Hammond said. "And at the end she said, 'Help me.'"

Hammond has posted the recording of what she says is the ghost's voice, called electronic voice phenomena, or EVP, on the group's Web site: www.michigansotherside.com

But Second Impression is more than a haunted house.

"It's like a little ministry," Forbes said. "I'm always proud that we can give to so many charities."

Consignors receive 40 percent of the sale of their items and the store keeps the other 60 percent. Items that don't sell within 60 or 70 days are donated to a nonprofit organization, which is rotated monthly. This month, Forbes is donating unsold clothing to The People Center of Spring Lake.

Forbes is proud of an April 2007 letter from New Focus, an Allendale-based inner-city ministry, which expressed gratitude for the donations they received. Forbes said she hung the framed letter in the store to show consignors the kind of organizations that receive their unsold items.

Forbes has a list of more than 6,000 consignors the shop has worked with over the years — about half are currently active. She said the consignors are well aware of the store's policy of only accepting "quality" clothing that is already washed and ironed.

Forbes and a friend, Linda Stansberry, opened Earthly Possessions — a resale shop for furniture and decorations — next door at 118 N. Third St. six years ago.

Behind the Second Impression register may be a young volunteer. Molly Markovicz, a Spring Lake High School senior, was working there last week to fulfill community service credit requirements for graduation.

Markovicz said she also shops at the store. "I get most of my clothes here," she said.

Ramsey, a longtime consignor, said she never takes the money from her consignment sales out of her account except to purchase clothing for her family from the shop.

"They have great quality stuff," she said. "It's just a great place to shop."

The store is currently open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

"We close at 5:30 in the winter," Forbes said, because not everyone wants to be in the haunted shop after dark.