Business & Tech

Business Conversations: Thrift Shopping for Kids at Liena's

Thrift shops are very popular these days amongst trendy, penny pinching college kids and stylish adults. There are pop songs written about shopping second hand and parties thrown just to hit the local thrift shop.

But what about thrifting for kids clothes? That where the idea for Liena's at 45 Church Street. Winchester Patch sat down to talk second hand kids clothes with co-owner Rachael Burton.

WP: What age do people usually come shop for?

RB: It starts with newborns and goes up to 14/16. On average, people come shop for the 5,6,7,8-age range but we get them all. This is one of our busiest times of the year. I’d say between September and December. Winter pants, winter boots, winter hats, winter coats are a huge sellers.

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WP: Is there as big a demand for second hand young kids clothes as there is for college-aged kids?

RB: I’d say so. We try to stick to the higher end brands, but kids grow out of their clothes so quickly that it makes sense to buy second hand.

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WP: How did you get into this business?

RB: The original owner, Elizabeth Ranjhhan needed someone to help out covering some hours and it happened to work in my schedule. There was a lot of leftover kids clothes from Elizabeth’s house and she decided to open up the store ten years July 1st and here we are.

WP: What were you doing previous?

RB: I was a nanny and had two kids of my own.

WP: So you’ve always worked around children?

RB: Yes and I used to work here part time when it first opened.

WP: Do people buy an outfit here and then return it a year later once their kids grows out of it?

RB: Not generally. A lot of times people will come in with stuff they’ve bought previously, maybe a year ago. We buy those things outright and they sometimes swap it out or not.

WP: So this isn’t much of a recycling center?

RB: No, if they were to bring something back, we might buy it back if it was in excellent condition.

WP: Here’s the most important question: Who is the store named after?

RB: The owner, Elizabeth has a daughter named Pauliena. So she named it after her.


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