Children’s Orchard is not consignment and it’s not thrift, it’s an upscale resale store that offers a new and fun shopping experience for both parents and kids.

Because children so often outgrow their clothes before they are hardly worn, our stores provide a solution for customers to sell their items for CASH On-the-Spot and buy like-new items for up to 70% off of original retail prices.

Stores feature bright colors, a clean, fresh scent and are designed to make shopping simple because items are easily accessible and meticulously organized. And all clothing (boys and girls sizes 0 to 14), accessories, toys and baby equipment are high in quality and in great condition.

To help make shopping a bit less stressful, each Children’s Orchard has a fun and safe play area where kids can watch videos, use toys and just hangout while their parents shop. Dressing rooms are large so families are comfortable when trying on items to make sure they fit.

When it comes time to clean out their children’s closets, customers also appreciate our curbside drop-off benefit. If there isn’t enough time to go into the store, it’s a fast and convenient way to hand over the items they wish to sell, go run other errands and then return later to pick up their cash.

The unique resale concept of Children’s Orchard serves local communities by promoting the reuse of quality goods, which benefits the environment, and buying inventory directly from customers, which puts money back into the pockets of people within the communities. When you visit any Children’s Orchard store, you’ll always find superior merchandise and a friendly, professional staff that provides great customer service.

So Why Children’s Clothing and Toys?

The average American family spends hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on apparel for their children each year. And unlike adults, who can usually fit into the same clothes and shoes for years, kids outgrow their wardrobes quickly, sometimes even before the seasons change.

Fashionable, affordable children’s apparel is always in demand. Children’s Orchard is designed to endure economic downturns. Our upscale resale concept creates loyal, repeat customers who love the brand for its deep discounts on like-new items, tremendous selection, well-designed stores and the opportunity to earn cash for things that their family no longer needs. Check out the video clip below from Twin Cities Live to hear the excitement surrounding children’s resale.

Who is Our Target Customer?

Our ideal customer is a 25- to 45-year old mother with young children. She is likely married and always busy, juggling work and an active family life. She puts her kids first and strives to provide them with the best clothing, shoes, baby equipment and toys, but also appreciates a great deal.

Our target customer wants her family to look stylish even if they outgrow their outfits in the blink of an eye. She is socially and environmentally conscious and feels that recycling her children’s clothing is a way in which she can help the cause. With such a busy schedule, she values convenience and a friendly store staff to help her get shopping tasks done efficiently.

Millennials

Our Millennial customers are women ages 25 to 35. They live a very active lifestyle and are in the beginning stages of starting a family. They are very connected to family, friends and acquaintances, announcing their pregnancy, the birth of their first child and many other milestones on social media. We must have a strong social media presence in order to reach them.

This customer group has a defined sense of style, which carries over into how they dress their kids. First-time moms are looking to us to help them stock their baby’s bedroom and closet with high-quality clothing, toys and more for less. Many Millennials may still have high levels of student loan debt and are for the first time feeling the added expense of a child, so our prices suit their financial needs.

Our Generation X (Gen X) customers are women ages 35 to 50. Gen X moms are highly educated and are generally well-established in their careers. Their families now include multiple children that are likely involved in many activities. They look to Children’s Orchard to keep up with their growing kids, providing school clothes, coats, boots, apparel for dance classes and soccer practices, Halloween costumes and more—all high in quality for a great price. Gen X customers are also looking to sell their kids’ gently used items to our store. They are very familiar with how quickly their children grow and the extra cash helps when they need to buy bigger sizes season after season.

Our Baby Boomer customers are women ages 50 to 65. They make up a much smaller portion of our customer base. Often they are grandparents that love to shower their grandchildren with gifts. Baby Boomers grew up at a time of dramatic social change. Memorable events during their life include the Vietnam War, civic and environmental movements and women’s rights movements. These changes caused them to be socially and financially responsible. Many of them are more conservative and stick to strong personal financial plans. The resale concept of Children’s Orchard provides them with high-quality merchandise at a great price. They also appreciate our high level of customer service provided by a friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Our Product

It’s no secret that the main reason customers visit Children’s Orchard stores is because of the exceptional product within. Whether buying or selling their kids’ gently used clothing, shoes, toys and baby equipment, families know that Children’s Orchard focuses on quality.

Our inventory comes from our customers, families that have children’s items that they no longer need. They bring it to Children’s Orchard and our certified buyers evaluate each item, making sure that it fits the following criteria:

• Great condition
• Items that are current within the past few years
• Children’s sizes
• Current styles
• Free of wear, tears and stains
• Freshly laundered
• Has brand and size labels
• Contained in a basket or bag
• For toys, all parts are included

Customers are presented with an offer of cash on-the-spot or a percentage more in store credit for the items the store wishes to purchase. Our point-of-sale software features a sophisticated buy matrix, which helps buyers make offers that are consistent and fit the margins of the successful Children’s Orchard business model.

Just like they love making money by selling items to Children’s Orchard, customers love saving money by shopping at Children’s Orchard, too. That’s what resale is all about! Stores price their high-quality, name-brand merchandise at approximately 70% less than the original retail price. That great value and seeing new items on the floor every day keeps shoppers coming back. So the more product our stores buy, the more they sell!

The children’s apparel market has seen amazing growth over the past few years and has been out pacing the women’s and men’s apparel markets. This growth can be attributed to many different trends. First, major designers are expanding their lines to include children’s sizes. According to Fashionista.com, nearly every major luxury brand in 2017 had a line of apparel and accessories available in the 12 and under sizes. Parents who are loyal to these luxury brands are buying them for their children. This include the “Mini-Me” trend with matching fashions for parents and children. Social media has also played a big hand in the growth of children’s apparel industry. Today’s children are now front and center on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat…and their parents are doing everything they can to make sure they look their best.

Children’s Orchard continues to benefit from this growth by offering options for parent to repurpose these amazing looks and get some of their hard-earned money back. At the same time, parents can purchase top quality children’s clothing and accessories at a deeply discounted prices from the typical retail mall prices.

In supplying the constant demand of growing kids, the Children’s Orchard brand is also growing. It was purchased in 2015 by NTY Franchise Company and quickly received an enormous refresh in store design and technology. Since then, the resale stores’ high gross margins and scalable business model has received a lot of attention.

It’s no secret that kids are expensive. From clothing to toys to various equipment and furniture, parents spend many dollars each year providing their kids with items that they need and want. According to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child from birth through age 17 is $233,610. That’s quite a chunk of change—and only for one kid for one year!

Prosper Insights and Analytics: Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average $684.79 each. That’s the third-highest total in the history of the survey. Clothing and accessories remains the largest spending category.