Maybe you are a consignment regular and are opening this email already very familiar with Piccolina because you go there all the time – except not today.  They are, understandably, as a family run business, closed for Mother’s Day.

Piccolina’s owner, Sara, has chatted with a whole lot of Swap Shop members over the past 3 ½ years on her little corner of “downtown” Clinton and now at her and her husband Bill’s new location in the up and coming shopping district on Woodstock.

She does a whirlwind business in the comings and goings of kid’s clothing, maternity wear, toys and baby gear. She makes it look easy. But the owner of Small Wonders who supported us as she took a whirl at running a resale shop out on Foster that is no longer and now Kevin, long time owner of Children’s Exchange on Division, who closed up shop last week, will testify that knowing what to take and how much to pay for it so it can sell at a profit is a way bigger challenge than most of us would want to take on.

The challenge that is facing all of us, whether for economic reasons or an awareness of the delicate balance of resources on the planet or a little of both, is how to find our own way to prosper while we make the best of what we already have.

I have often explained that the Swap Shop fills that niche right between your best friend and the thrift store. When we’ve outgrown our very best things we often pass them on to a sister or neighbor or dearest friend. If we hate to see it in the trash but no longer want to claim it was ours, we drop it in a donation box. The things that we can say with pride (and fond memories), “That used to be mine, so glad you’re using it” end up on the swap shop shelves rediscovered and cherished by another family.

The Swap Shop asks that your gift to the rest of community be clean and useful but not necessarily top of the line, mint condition, with a brand name attached.

The niche that Sara and Bill work in so well for the benefit of their family and all of ours is a place that is, at the same time, both highly selective and ingeniously flexible.

First, the highly selective part:

Piccolina has survived good economic times and bad by trading in those items that, because of their brand and good condition, have a really strong resale value.

Think a Hannah Anderson dress or sturdy pair of OshKosh B’gosh overalls are pretty darn adorable (and almost indestructible) but don’t really care to buy such a thing full price or have it shipped to you in three layers of packaging? These are exactly the kind of things you can pick up at Piccolina. When you are done, if the patron saints of stain have looked favorably on you, you might even be able to bring it back for a second round of cash or credit.

This works especially well for the barely worn but much needed phases of maternity wear. When you make good use of a place like Piccolina, well purchased maternity clothes from a retail or consignment store are often more like a loan than a purchase (without having to keep track of which friend or store you got them from in the first place.)

Sara will be the first to admit that she’s quite picky about what she takes (clothes from The Gap, yes.  From Target, no) but also proud of the fact that she makes it as easy as possible to you to help her find the things that bring you cash or credit, her great inventory and the rest of us great “new” purchases.

This is the ingeniously flexible part: You don’t need an appointment to bring in items. Tuesday through Saturday 10 – 6 you can drop by and, often as not, your things can be looked through on the spot (without you having to make a second trip back for the items that weren’t accepted or give them up as a donation when you would have rather brought them to the Swap Shop or a friend.)

You can have 30% of the resale value of kid’s clothing and basic toys on the spot or take 40% store credit. Maternity clothes and larger ticket item (strollers, etc) go on consignment for two months with a check written for what sells and a two week pick up window for what doesn’t.

Sara gives items that aren’t selling and aren’t picked up to Insights Teen Parent Program.

She also provides a great venue for your best toys and games to live a new life. Things with a whole lot of intricate pieces or items that need every piece to work don’t do so well at the Swap Shop but you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing that they will get home to their next owner with every piece still in play when they are resold at Piccolina.

If you have an image of resale shops being mostly for babies and toddlers, I think it’s actually parents like myself of kids size 3T – 12 that really benefit. Those younger age bins at the Swap Shop are usually brimming with the over abundance of baby shower and holiday gifts.

Older kids aren’t gifted as many things and wear (and wear out) their clothes much longer. The two pairs of $7 pants my 9 year old daughter happily shopped for on Woodstock are staples in her wardrobe right now.

When ever I wander into Buffalo Exchange on Hawthorne with hopes of a buy out I’m always left wondering what they will or won’t take and a bit mystified by what they like and what they don’t.

Sara and Bill have a really helpful list of the most likely and unlikely items on their web site:http://www.piccolinaresale.com/how_to_sell

FYI: They don’t take car seats or cribs. Clothes need to be from the last three year’s styles or hand made/vintage and in season.

Now, here’s the best part of Piccolina becoming a Roost sponsor . . .  there are times when Sara and Bill have so much of a certain item they can’t take any more and other times when they are eagerly searching for more product in certain areas.

I will certainly be spreading the good news about their store in our weekend Know Your Neighbor posts, but what I am most looking forward to is every so often spreading the word in our weekly emails about unique items they’ve gotten in and especially about what they are actively buying so we know the best things to bring in.

For this week . . . if you have strollers of any type, clean them off and bring them on down. Sara likes to keep about 10 strollers on display and when this last patch of warm, sunny weather hit, all her strollers went right out the door.

It can be quite a bit of work to get a well used, well loved stroller back into “like new” condition, but if you think you’ve got a contender, starting this Tuesday at 10 she’s “interviewing” all things with wheels both at the Clinton and Woodstock stores.

In the area of unique items, I was delighted to make the Swap Shop the new owner of her son’s own precious all wood toddler tractor and trailer that she had just set out on the floor at the end of last week. It was made right here in Oregon and has already survived one child’s pounding. Hopefully it will live as long as our two other all wood riders. Come check it out this week in the great room (or where ever it gets pushed off to.)

What people like Sara and I really want is a way to make a living and a good life for our own families while doing our part so that so much clothing and toys and gear don’t just get pushed off into the land fills.

The price of that brand new brand name piece of clothing made of more expensive, more durable materials isn’t really so high if we all remember that, with good care in a good community, one well made pair of overalls or one great toy can have a half dozen owners and a decade of memories.

We invest a lot in our children. When we know our neighbors well and share what we have with each other, our children and our planet are better for it.

You can find our neighbor Sara usually at the Clinton store:

2700 SE 26th Ave (store faces Clinton)
Portland, OR 97202
503-963-8548

Mon thru Sat:
10am to 6pm
Sunday: 11am to 4pm

(resale items accepted Tues-Sat 10-6)

And Bill is a regular at Woodstock:

4416 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR 97206
503-505-5045

Store hours and resale items accepted:

Tues thru Sat:
10am to 6pm