Resale Offers Lower-Cost Alternatives
Back-to-school shopping can break the budget and test the spirit. Muffy and Junior insist on all the latest styles, your bank account be damned. Whatever is hanging on the store racks they want hanging on their bodies.
Shopping for preschoolers and even babies can be almost as trying. How can such a little bit of cloth carry such a big price tag?
One way to get around the high prices for new clothes is to supplement them with used items, especially the staples: ties, shoes, blazers, jeans. Head for a resale shop.
The children’s resale stores are modeled after adult resale stores, rather than after thrift shops. The emphasis is on prestigious labels in new or near-new condition. There is an abundance of used children’s clothing to choose from, shop owners say, and they can therefore be picky, accepting only those items judged to be the best quality.
Some of these shops also sell used toys and furniture. All sell some proportion of new merchandise, but check the prices. These can sometimes be higher than the same item in a regular department or discount store. One store, for instance, had new Little Tike Party Kitchens priced at $83.95; Toys R Us carries them for $69.99.
Small resale shops are common, but the larger stores with big inventories are harder to find. Here is a sampling of the area’s best and biggest:
Young Seconds in Corona del Mar is owned by two local women, mothers themselves, who say it is designed for mothers with children. Indeed, with its box of toys and available restroom, parents are encouraged to bring the children along. The ruffled curtains and floral wallpaper lend the small shop, in a strip mall on Heliotrope Avenue, the homey charm of a cluttered bedroom.
Used ski and active sportswear, graduation and special occasion clothes are the shop’s specialty, but you can also find a wide selection of shoes (especially penny loafers) , some riding outfits and a few new articles.
Clothes for newborns through teen-agers fill the main room. Racks of boys’ blazers and gray flannel pants line one wall. Sports shoes and uniforms, prom dresses and Girl Scout uniforms fill a separate area. A shopper might find labels such as Florence Eiseman, At Ease, Esprit, Oshkosh, Buster Brown, Absorba and Ralph Lauren Polo. A Florence Eiseman dress, for example, that would sell for about $80 new, is priced at $32 here; size 4T Oshkosh overalls are marked at $9, and an At Ease boys navy blazer, $45.
Used clothing is carried on consignment, with the original owner receiving 40% of the sale price. Clothes that do not sell are either returned or donated to charity.
The store is restocked Tuesdays and Thursdays, so the best days to shop are Wednesdays and Fridays, owners Sue Young and Paulette Jones say.
Children’s Orchard in El Toro carries clothing for newborns to children’s size 6X, and also furniture, toys and equipment. The large store, part of a nationwide chain, opened in Lake Forest Village in January. Its owners are Norma J. Towle and Richard Spehn.
Spehn estimates his inventory at about 4,000 pieces--most of them used--of clothing, plus furniture, baby equipment and toys. Labels on the used items include Oshkosh, Esprit, Absorba, Polly Flinders. A size 4 dress by the Smockery, for instance, is priced at $7.95; a toddler’s Oshkosh overalls and T-shirt set, $9.99.
Unlike most other stores selling used items, Children’s Orchard buys these outright rather than taking them on consignment.
Children’s Exchange, a few miles from Children’s Orchard on Via Fabricante in Mission Viejo, is two giant rooms filled with new and used clothes, toys, furniture, bottles and just about everything else a parent might need.
You will find a wide range of new and used clothes for newborns through size 14. Used Oshkosh overalls, size 4, for example, are priced at $5.99; a Health Tex T-shirt for 9 months at $3.25; a Winnie-the-Pooh dress, size 5, at $5.99.
But this store’s real draw is its large selection of new toys and new and used cribs, highchairs, strollers and playpens. A used Aprica stroller, for instance, is priced at $45; a used Strollee Limosine double stroller, $105.95.
Treasure Island in Tustin has been expanding its offerings since Christina Jensen bought the store 1 1/2 years ago. She has added a maternity section, a parents’ resource center and a colorful playroom packed with toys.
Jensen says she accepts about 200 items a day for consignment, about a quarter of them maternity wear, including designer maternity dresses and career clothes.
There are large sections of used clothes for newborn to boys size 20 and girls size 7. Labels include Oshkosh (a corduroy jumper is $6.99); Esprit (jeans, $9) and Polly Flinders.
Treasure Island also sells new and used baby carriers (Snugli, Dr. Sears), a few pieces of furniture, and many toys and strollers.
The original owners of consigned items receive 40% to 50% of the selling price. Clothes that don’t sell after 90 days are returned to the owners or donated to charities.
The resource center offers infant massages, free pamphlets from a variety of organizations, and demonstrations.
CHILDREN’S RESALE STORES AT A GLANCE
YOUNG SECONDS: 436 Heliotrope Ave., Corona del Mar. Phone: (714) 673-2120.
Carries used clothing, sizes newborn to teen; large selection of boy’s blazers, special occasion clothes and sports shoes and uniforms. Deals only on consignment.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday and major school holidays. Clothing accepted by appointment only.
CHILDREN’S ORCHARD: 22953 Ridge Route Drive, El Toro. (714) 951-0444.
Carries mostly used clothing, sizes newborn to 6X, and strollers, car seats, toys; large selection of children’s wear and car seats. Buys items rather than deals on consignment.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sundays. Clothing accepted by appointment.
CHILDREN’S EXCHANGE: 23812 Via Fabricante, Suite A-4. Phone: (714) 859-4307.
Carries large selection of furniture, toys and equipment, along with mostly used clothing, sizes newborn to 14. Deals only on consignment. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No appointment needed for consignment.
TREASURE ISLAND: 1061 E. Main St., Tustin. (714) 731-8707
Carries maternity clothes and large selection of mostly new children’s clothes, newborn to boy’s size 20 and girl’s size 7. Also baby carriers, toys, and equipment (strollers, car seats, play pens and some furniture). Hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sundays. Clothes taken by appointment only.
