UPDATE: More photos

People gather and stand in line for a garage sale at the home of Bob and Diane Hagarty at 6910 Bowman Lane NE in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 9, 2010. Diane Hagarty said there were about 80 people on their lawn at 3:00 and the garage sale wasn't supposed to open until 4. The Hagarty's will continue the two day event on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. with more women's clothes, shoes and purses. (Julie Koehn/SourceMedia Group News)

Renae Lagerquist, of Cedar Rapids, looks at a rack of clothes before making her final selections during a garage sale at the home of Bob and Diane Hagarty at 6910 Bowman Lane NE in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 9, 2010. Diane Hagarty said there were about 80 people on their lawn at 3:00 and the garage sale wasn't supposed to open until 4. The Hagarty's will continue the two day event on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. with more women's clothes, shoes and purses. Lagerquist said she heard about the garage sale on the news and was curious so she decided to come out. (Julie Koehn/SourceMedia Group News)

Norma Cox of West Union tries on a blouse while her husband, Art Cox, stands by her side as she shops at a garage sale at the home of Bob and Diane Hagarty at 6910 Bowman Lane NE in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 9, 2010. Diane Hagarty said there were about 80 people on their lawn at 3:00 and the garage sale wasn't supposed to open until 4. The Hagarty's will continue the two day event on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. with more women's clothes, shoes and purses. The Cox's said they heard about the garage sale on the news and had to drive from West Union - about 80 miles - because they had never heard of anything like this. (Julie Koehn/SourceMedia Group News)

UPDATE: With photo and Sale day info

The attention the garage sale has gotten has led to quite a crowd before the doors open. Less than an hour before the start of the garage sale and there is a line of at least 100 people and many more cars and trucks are circling the home looking for parking.

FRIDAY UPDATE:

By Chris Earl, SourceMedia Group News

The afternoon rush-hour traffic usually fills up Boyson Road NE at the end any workday.

Yet minivans and sedans clogged a residential street just off Boyson for what may be one of the most publicized garage sales in recent memory.

“There was so much publicity about it, I had to see what it was all about,” said Paulette Petersen of Toddville, who said she parked “five blocks” away from the home of Bob and Diane Hagarty, on Bowman Lane NE, in Cedar Rapids.

“My wife is a shopaholic,” said Bob Hagarty, as he collected more cash for shoes he was selling at three pairs for $5.  “She spent a couple of months digging the stuff out and getting things ready.”

Inside the two-story home, Diane Hagarty stood watch over the Coach purses.  For these purses, shoppers had to go through a special system.  Picking up a number, the purse browsers would wait in line and then go inside to decide whether to purchase a Coach purse.

Hagarty said, once her children had left the house and the couple was living alone again, she really took to shopping because she had the time and more income.  Instead of gambling, Hagarty said shopping was her obsession.

Yet with her father passing at age 51 and Diane Hagarty getting closer to that age, she wanted something different than all of these items.  “Are these stuffed closets the legacy I want to leave to my children?”

Rather than fill her closets with shoes, Diane said the money from the two-day sale will go to new flooring in their home. 

“The estimate is $8,000 and I told my husband I could raise $8,000 over the weekend,” Hagarty said.

What the Hagartys were able to do with their garage sale was get the word out like few ever have.  Between a Craigslist ads and exposure on radio and television, deal seekers came from miles away to go through the purses, jackets, blouses and shoes.

“I was willing to spend a little bit on a purse I liked,” said Mary Ward of Ryan, in Delaware County.  When asked if she drove all the way down for this sale, Ward said, “Um…maybe,” before laughing.

“We pulled up the list on Craigslist this afternoon so we knew what we were going for,” said Penny Galvin of Palo, who had an armful of work suits she said would cost about $250 at the sale but would set her back ”more than $1,000″ if purchased in a store.

Would his neighbors approve all of the traffic and all of the people?  Bob Hagarty said he did not let his neighbors on this circular street know about the sale beforehand.

“All of our neighbors are pretty good people and we don’t cause any trouble,” said Hagarty.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED Thursday 7-9-2010

By Emily Allen and Justin Foss

CEDAR RAPIDS – Diane Hagarty is selling off half her clothes and shoes this weekend – 200 pairs of shoes, 20 Coach purses and more than 400 dresses, suits and tops.

“This is my drug of choice – shopping,” said Diane Hagarty, 51, Cedar Rapids.

Shopping was a powerful drug, so powerful it filled her 6,000 square-foot home.

“You can see this is a walk-in closet, but you can’t walk in,” said Diane as she pulled the door open.  It’s just one of at least five other closets in her home.  All, at one point, were full.

When you’re only hobby is shopping, you end up having a lot to show for it.

“The thrill is in the hunt,” said Diane.

She has plenty of trophies – like a pile of Coach purses with original tags still attached.

“You’ll see I have the exact same purse in black, dark brown and saddle brown because I couldn’t decide which color I like the best.  So I bought all three,” said Diane.

Diane put an ad in Craigslist for a garage sale this weekend.  We saw the ad and called her.  While most women call the tradition a garage sale, Diane is calling it a self-imposed intervention.

“I’m sitting here saying to myself why didn’t my husband put his foot down and he say, ‘You still have clothes with the tags on them you don’t need anymore shoes or clothes,’” said Diane.

She doesn’t blame her husband.  Although, she said in retrospect, it might have been a good thing for the occasional pressure.

Bob, 63, Cedar Rapids, never said no, “Nope. Never.  Never did.”

Bob said the shopping never put them in debt or even made money tight, so he just accepted it.  He said many times he helped hold clothes in the stores, “”I just want her to be happy, and this made her happy.”

Bob said he knew she was using shopping as therapy, and he didn’t mind.  He said at least she had something to show for it.  However, all the stuff she had to show for that therapy ended up being too much when these empty-nesters ran out of storage in their 6,000-square-foot home.

What will make her happy now, is getting rid of it.

“Oh we’ll get rid of a lot. But there’s too much to get rid of in one weekend. We’ll have to do it again,” said Bob.  “You haven’t see all her 200 sweaters.”

She’s hoping the sale will bring in enough money to build onto their house, and they’re still asking garage-sale prices for the stuff.

When – Friday, July 9th from 4 – 7 p.m. and on Saturday, July 10th from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Where – 6910 Bowman Lane NE, Cedar Rapids, IA.