Among all the toys one could ever want or dream of, Justin Andrews and 1-year-old daughter Zoey both had their eyes on the light saber. It was an orange one with three plastic lasers, the one popularized by Kylo Ren, a quote-unquote bad guy in the “Star Wars” universe.
“You’re going to be a Sith lord, like your dad,” he told her. “Not a Jedi, like mommy.”
This weekend is the Kids Exchange winter sale, a semi-annual event that over two decades has grown into the country’s largest consignment sale for children’s clothes and toys.
Filling the Graham building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, the sale features thousands once-beloved objects with love still to give. Organizers estimated there are about 300 bikes, more than 100 strollers, and dozens of tables covered with a generation’s worth of toys.
“It’s a great way to recycle and stay green,” said Julie Blaising, who started the sale 23 years ago with sister Amy Winstead. “Especially with children’s clothes, they wear them for three months and then outgrow them or the seasons change. They’re almost like new and you can get them for a fraction of the cost.”
Blaising said Kids Exchange holds two sales a year, this one in January and another in July.
Roughly half of the sale is children’s clothes, with racks upon racks holding thousands of pieces for kids all ages.
“We have people saying they couldn’t clothe their kids without this sale,” Blaising said. “We really enjoy being able to put on an event that helps the community.”
Blaising said 25,000 shoppers will come through the doors over a weekend. Roughly 2,000 people drop off consignment items and get two-thirds of the sale price.
“The line (to get in) is a mile long; that’s not an exaggeration,” said Bob Winstead, Amy’s husband.
The items that aren’t sold are donated to the church Crossroads Fellowship, through which the Winsteads spread the toys and clothes around the world as part of mission work.
Hadassah Bumba takes her new tricycle for a spin during the Kids Exchange consignment sale Saturday at the NC State Fairgrounds. jdjackson@newsobserver.com Drew Jackson
Secondhand retail a growing trend
Secondhand and consignment apparel is a quickly growing trend in retail. Secondhand startup ThreadUp released a report last year that the resale and thrift market has tripled since 2012, and is expected to grow to around $32 billion this year. The report anticipates a third of all retail sales to be secondhand by 2033.
Blaising said bikes, strollers, baby beds and clothing are popular draws.
While half the room might be clothes, the toys get the most attention and bring the most joy. For kids, it’s hard not to see the sale as a warehouse-sized playground.
After ballet class, the Bumba family came to the sale, where Hadassah Bumba took a new tricycle for a spin. After a brief tumble, a moment of tears, a bond between kid and machine had been formed and the tricycle had a new home.
Elsewhere, American Girl dolls, Barbies, basketballs and an Iron Man action figure looked to find a second or third life.
‘We always come for Barbies,” Christine DiSilvio said, noting this is her second year coming to the Kids Exchange sale. This year her daughter Gianna snagged a few Barbies and a pink bike. “It’s her size and she wanted it, and it’s pink. You can’t argue with that logic.”
The Kids Exchange sale continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday for its most popular day, the half-price sale, where most items will be 50% off.
Drew Jackson writes about restaurants and dining for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun, covering the food scene in the Triangle and North Carolina.
