At The Growing Years in Stow, owner Lisa Angiulo has one simple retail philosophy: "Treat everyone like they're part of my family." This welcoming environment contributes to the success that the upscale resale shop for children has enjoyed during 10 years and a recent expansion. There are six kids in the Angiulo family -- including two sets of twins -- so Lisa understands firsthand the costs involved in outfitting a growing child.
What a great idea for a shop. How did you come up with it?
It's kind of crazy. You talk to a lot of small-business owners and owning their own place was just their dream. But for me, it wasn't like that. After I got pregnant, I knew I didn't want to work full time. I was waiting for our daughters at a dance class and kept looking at the place next door, thinking, This is a fantastic place for a kids store.' Kids' clothes are expensive -- they just grow out of things all the time. I thought if I could offer affordable clothes, I'd fill a niche. And here we are, 10 years later. It's a great feeling.
How does your selling arrangement work?
Probably about 90 percent of our business is resale. We don't take appointments, walk-ins are welcome -- people love that. They drop off a bag of clothes, and we tell them the total in 48 hours. We buy things up front and pay people in cash or in store credit. It works out that customers get between 40 and 60 percent [of the sale price] -- that keeps name-brand customers happy. After they pay $50 at Abercrombie for a pair of jeans, they like that they get $10 back rather than $2 or $3.
What sort of things do you stock?
From a resale perspective, we do everything from newborn to teenagers and maternity, anything that would outfit you from head to toe. We've recently extended to offering newer equipment as well as brand-new gifts, too. We've bought from companies that offer overstock -- cribs, strollers, that sort of thing. That's what's neat about the resale -- the stock always changes.
You mention "upscale" -- what are the labels that you often have in stock?
Gymboree, Gap, Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Children's Place, Old Navy, Limited, Capezio . . . dancewear is a great second-hand item to find. Leotards are expensive! We started out calling ourselves "upscale" resale boutique, which has both its pros and cons. People do like to buy name brand, but as a negative, we hate to turn people away when they're offering us non-name brands for sale, even though the items may be beautiful. But we know our customers are looking for name brands. We do buy some nonlabels, but it's a smaller percentage.
Do you get a lot of clothes with the tags still on?
We do -- you'd think it would just be infant clothes, but kids can be picky. They'll wear a shirt once to school, then not like it and stick it way back in their closets, where Mom will find it. Then she'll bring it to me -- I spent $30 on this shirt and he won't wear it!'
Do you get a lot of baby clothes?
We get three times more in infant clothes than any other size. We have to pull back the reins on this one and ask folks if they can bring them back when the season changes. School-age is what we're going after -- especially the name-brand things. There's an age gap in the market -- infant resale shops go to age 8, and then Plato's Closet starts at juniors' sizes. We're a niche for the school age.
Who's your typical customer?
A middle-class mom who needs to find clothing to fit her growing family. Sometimes she starts with us when she's expecting -- we love this, because then they often they stay with us as their kids are growing.
What are your most popular items?
Good old-fashioned blue jeans. When you can pick them up for $8 instead of $30, that's a good thing. Athletic wear is popular. Pajamas -- it always shocks me to say this, but you just can't get a nice pair of pajamas for under $20 these days. They're a popular resale item.
What else surprised you with its retail popularity?
I have just been amazed by these plastic hole-y shoes. We started with Crocs, but I realized that my customers weren't Crocs people -- they didn't want to spend $25, $30 for plastic shoes. So we sell a Canadian company's version, they're $10 brand new, and just as soft and colorful.
What's your fashion philosophy?
Buy what you can afford, because you determine what's in style by your self-confidence. Kids want to have those expensive T-shirts, but they can't afford it, so it's nice that they can come in here and spend their $5 in baby-sitting money on a designer T-shirt.
