Kids’ Consignment Store Helps Seattle Parents Find Affordable Threads

seattlepi.com:

Baby fashion is big business these days, and a new Seattle store offers that style with a discount, selling hip children’s attire that’s just a little “experienced.”

Le Petit Shoppe opened its doors seven months ago, the brainchild of two Seattle moms who twisted children’s consignment shopping by focusing almost exclusively on high-end used children’s clothing.

The idea is to offer a cheaper path to kids’ fashion, while tapping into Seattle’s green consciousness, as buying used clothing is just another way to recycle.

Today, the narrow consignment boutique sits just above University Village and offers parents a little of everything on the higher end, from jumpers and dresses to T-shirts and bathing suits. You may not find exactly what you want, but you will probably find something.

You also might find art for your kid’s room. The store boasts its own artist-in-residence, Seattle-based artist Caroline Rivera, whose simple but appealing portraits hang on the walls.

Unlike bigger consignment stores, there are no massive bins of shirts and sweaters inside the three-room shop. Instead, co-owners Monica Fetty and Carolyn Cussac aspire to operate a children’s boutique, with racks of tasteful dresses and rows of hip shoes that often cost less than $15.

“That is the appeal. They feel like it’s an upscale boutique, not a used children’s clothing” store, Cussac said.

Unlike in some boutiques, though, shoppers have a surprising amount of room to move to check out a $14 party dress, a $6.90 dog-inspired backpack, $3.90 baby hats or a $4.90 teddy bear.

You can move to the back room to sift through boxes of frog and leopard-inspired rain boots, though the inventory is picked over after the city’s recent bouts of rain.

The store’s core appeal, though, is that Mom or Dad can buy 10 toddler dresses instead of one for $70.

The shop’s $11 dresses are popular as the national economy continues to sag. That’s because bad economic news can be good news for consignment shops. Everyone loves a bargain during a down economy, whether it’s on an Italian party dress or an Old Navy toddler T-shirt.

Le Petit Shoppe also enjoys insulation from economic winds because it sits in the well-heeled Laurelhurst neighborhood. Plus, parents often wander in from Seattle Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, which sits less than half a mile away, the owners say.