SLO resale clothing shop opens new kid-specific store. Take a look inside

A popular secondhand resale store has opened another shop in San Luis Obispo, and this one is geared toward kids.

Calico Kids, a children’s clothing resale boutique, opened Oct. 4 at 445 Madonna Road in Suite A with gently worn secondhand clothing, shoes, strollers, toys and gifts and accessories.

This is the store’s second location, as well as its first place, Calico Trading Co.,

has been in downtown SLO since 2019, started by twin sister duo Jeannie Mielke and Susie Hawkins.

The pair saw a need to be able to recycle baby items, as their customers have been asking for a kids store since they opened their first location.

“There’s a real need for that in our community,” Mielke told The Tribune. “When we raised our kids here, there were lots of places like that to choose from, and there just hasn’t been any in the last few years, at least 10 years, probably, so we’re excited to be able to fill that need.”

Calico Kids is run by nine moms, while Mielke and Hawkins own the store, according to one of the moms, Jenny Karp.

“Kids grow so quickly, and they grow out of their things so quickly,” Karp told The Tribune. “Our idea was to provide a place so that moms could get high quality items, feel good about being able to recycle their things, and that someone, another family, would get to love that item.”

At Calico Kids, 95% of the items in the store are secondhand, Karp said.

That includes high-quality jackets, t-shirts, rain boots, soccer cleats and gear that are normally quite expensive. Clothing sizes range from 2 to 14, dressing newborns and toddlers to preteens.

The store also has a toy section with books, stuffed animals and games and a stroller parking lot.

The other 5% are small items like sunglasses, pencil toppers, puppets and quilted bags and jackets using secondhand fabrics from Calico Re/Made.

“It’s really a community-focused store, it’s really a service,” Karp said. “Because people, they’re like, ‘Oh, I have all this stuff, my kids, half the stuff they didn’t even wear,’ and they didn’t have a place to take it. That’s been our goal for several years.”

In the back of Calico Kids, a section next to the fitting rooms is for buying.

The store offers either 25% cash or 35% store credit to be used at either Calico Kids or Calico Trading Co.

Karp encourages shoppers to bring their best things, and they will sort it, but the moms are buying seasonally as well and are looking for fall and winter gear.

“We like high quality, well-made, 100% cotton,” she said. “If it’s made well, it’ll last long. That’s kind of that process is, we’re not interested in fast fashion, so we want to have things that are well-made to begin with, so that they can stay here a long time.”

While its doors are open to the public, Calico Kids is continuing to add products and services, such as a story time and craft hour for kids to sit down and be occupied while parents do the shopping, Karp said.

For more information

Calico Kids is located at 445 Madonna Road in Suite A in San Luis Obispo and is open from 10 am to 5 pm every day.

For more information about the new kids resale store, visit its website at calicotradingcompany.com.