Discussions

Ive been thinking of this fir awhile. Do you think brandon could handle a childrens second hand store like once upon a child???? Same concept.

I would absolutely LOVE a place like that in Brandon! Since having kids, whenever I'm in Winnipeg, I always stop at Once Upon a Child and can't actually think of a time I walked away without purchasing anything.  
 
I also love the opportunity to take in gently used stuff. Getting even a little bit back absolutely helps!  
 
But wasn't there a place with a similar idea a while ago just south of Superstore on 9th? I could be wrong, but I don't think it lasted that long, or at least didn't last long after I had kids. If I'm wrong and it's just relocated, please let me know because I'll definitely be a regular shopper!  
 
Edited by SimplyTheBest, 2018-09-26 12:45:53

Mamato3 said "Ive been thinking of this fir awhile. Do you think brandon could handle a childrens second hand store like once upon a child???? Same concept. "

I believe it was tried a couple of times and they closed down..Prices would have to be very reasonable..

Brandon has had them in the past (I can think of two different ones). For some reason they don’t seem to last here.

Yes it was tried once but poor management is why it closed, not giving people there money and selling dirty stained clothes.  
I would follow the once upon a child business model.

Mamato3 said "Yes it was tried once but poor management is why it closed, not giving people there money and selling dirty stained clothes.   I would follow the once upon a child business model. "

I would absolutely shop at a place like Once Upon a Child, as I know several of my friends would, as we make special trips to Winnipeg just for it.  
 
However, to survive, I think you'd have to have great prices on great quality (not stained or dirty and current styles) clothes.

Mamato3 said "Yes it was tried once but poor management is why it closed, not giving people there money and selling dirty stained clothes.   I would follow the once upon a child business model. "

This has been tried at least TWICE, not once. The first one ran in the mid 90’s, as I went there for a lot of my baby stuff. But it didn’t last too long. Same with the recent one. So many people said they’d use it, then didn’t. I’m just not sure Brandon would support one enough to pay the overhead cost. Just my opinion.

I'm thinking both of those places are a good fit for what you are looking for.

I frequented the most recent attempt at this. The owner could be very rude and hard to deal with, and it was poorly managed. Inconsistent hours is one thing I can think of, and that hurts sales, and ultimately business. I stopped shopping there and starting donating clothes instead specifically because of this.  
 
If this was to be tried again by someone, I would HIGHLY recommend opening a Once Upon A Child Franchise.  
They will help you along the way, you know it's a solid business model, and I think well managed and on consignment it would do great.  
https://www.onceuponachild.com/own-a-store

with rents being so high, plus hydro, possibly employees, I can't imagine there would be much, if any profit?  
 
Carter's Children's Place Superstore and Wal-Mart have affordable kids clothes. I shop online during sales often. I find cheap items at existing chartiable thrift stores or on Facebook buy sell groups, so I don't see a need for another used children's store personally.

It’s the first stop on my Winnipeg trips. With growing toddlers we love that place. We have been saying for a long time that Brandon needs one.  
 
I will say, in Brandon, with the “limited” variety of (new) children’s clothing stores it may be more difficult to secure some of the “gap, old navy, Gymboree” clothing.  
 
The other attempts have mostly had “out of style, faded and stained” clothing.  
 
I love once upon a child, because they are so “picky” in what they take to sell in store.  
 
I always have multiple boxes stacked to bring to once upon a child in the closet for my next Winnipeg trips. Would be nice to have one close that’s for sure!

There are always some on here that say they would love a store. The truth is beyond that there isn't much support. All I see on Facebook and eBrandon is tons of clothing for sale. Operating costs are so high you need a large population base to make something sustain. According to the 2016 census there are about 6,000 kids under the age 10 in Brandon. That isn't a very large population to draw from.

Probably 75% or more give all their child clothes to someone they know who needs them after their child grows out of them. And it goes back and forth. They try selling at garage sale but have to be cheap to go like 25 cents.  
 
Then the rest they donate to charity shop.  
 
New stuff is so cheap in many stores like Giant Tiger.  
 
And really why do kids need name brand clothes. The ones that need it are the parents. I am sure that a two year old doesn’t care at all what they are wearing.  
 
Personally I would like a really GOOD ladies store for people other than skinny people. We do have one but another would be super.

I like this idea, but it would be a tough go unless you have master marketing skills, fussy about what you take in and knowing how to keep customers coming back. The overhead on a store would set you back quite a bit each month (signage, rent, lease, buy, leasehold improvements, etc.) You would need to be in a visible location and that comes with higher rent, lease, buy cost.  
 
Most young moms I know will pass clothing back and forth within their social circles or would rather just donate or sell a package of clothing privately. Just my honest opinion.

Yes, I got ripped off by the one downtown. Never got any money or my merchandise back and the store closed.

When I lived in Ottawa there were children's clothing sales in the local schools fall and spring. Parents would bring clean priced clothing and the organizers put a diffentent sticker # for each family. A small percentage went to the home and school and he rest to the families. I had three children close together and $ helped a lot! The twin sales were fantastic!