Do Clothes Make the Kid?

January 4, 2016February 24, 2018

Clothes make the man, Mark Twain wrote, and they make the kid, too. I’ll add that clothing speaks to his or her parents as well, particularly for younger kids.

Psychological studies bear out that clothing makes quite an impact on how people view one another. Joseph had his coat of many colors, arousing jealousy and anger. The Prince traded his clothes with the Pauper, putting both boys in quite the pickle.

Clothes can malfunction (remember Super Bowl XXXVIII?), and tell everyone what the wearer does for a living. They let others know what teams a person roots for or where s/he goes to school.

Let Older Kids Browse for Their Clothes

Without question, clothing makes up the bulk of our inventory. Our store has inventory for boys and girls up to about age 12, give or take a year.

It’s very likely your older kids will want to pick out their own clothes. Let them do it here. It will be a lot easier on your wallet!

Juicy Couture jacket — *Juicy Couture, reasonably priced!*

We make sure the clothes we accept for consignment are in good condition, clean, and free of snares, tears, and undue wear. And yes, we are aware this rhymes.About Consignment and Resale

Our clothing racks are separated out by size for easy browsing. And while we do separate boys’ and girls’ items for simplicity’s sake, there are no hard and fast rules as far as we’re concerned about who wears what.

Back of a pink Elvis Presley jacket — *Elvis Presley: retro and still cool*

Retro is cool for older boys and girls, but the recent past rarely is. Unless your family are huge Royals fans, you probably won’t recall who won the World Series a few years ago. But truthfully, any commemorative sports clothing is cool regardless. We also get Cardinals, Sun Devils, and Diamondbacks gear, including caps.

We carry shoes and athletic shoes, including Heelys, which continue to be popular. And we have uniforms for Scottsdale Little League teams.

Heelys available in all sizes. — *Heelys here!*

We’ve been building up quite a collection of jeans, including brands like Levi’s, Lee, Diesel, and Wrangler.

Check Out Our Other Secondhand Merchandise!

The “n More” part of our name includes gently-used books, toys, games, sports equipment, baby accessories, and yeah, a lot more.

We know kids are crazy for electronics. We don’t carry them beyond a couple of games that may come in. We do, though, buy many of our own electronics secondhand ourselves.

We have an amazing number of Beanie Babies, too. Remember those? Customers of all ages buy them. Some of them get them for their pets.

Replace Those Outgrown Baby Clothes

Don’t spend a bundle on everyday clothing for your baby. Come in and check out our consigned baby clothes, shoes, toys, and more. Babies grow fast, and we have the inventory to help you replace last month’s clothes!

Remember, the first year of life is the most dramatic in terms of development. The Mayo Clinic says a baby will double his birthweight at five months and triple it by his first birthday. He’ll grow up to one inch a month for his first six months, and a little under half an inch a month until 12 months.

Frankly, you probably wouldn’t recognize the kid from the newborn photos!

Selling Safe Items is Our Number One Concern

December 31, 2015December 30, 2015 1,449 Comments

We at AZ Kidz n More are part of a community of shop owners in the resale and consignment business. The vast majority of this community pays strict attention to make sure that only safe items are sold to customers who are often donors/consigners as well.

We Only Sell Safe Items in Our Resale Shop

Baby tables are among the most critical safe items we offer. — *This changing table was checked for safety before we polished and put it out for sale.*

We do want to remind our customers that we thoroughly check all merchandise for safety before we put it on the floor for sale.

Since our inventory is children’s items, we take very special care to ensure that all items dropped off at the store are in good working condition, clean, and above all, safe to use. We do not sell items that are damaged, that we deem are unsafe, or are missing pieces. And we do not sell items that have been taken off the market for safety reasons.

We receive regular notices, for example, from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is charged with ensuring the safety of manufactured items sold in the United States. As we’ve said before, if we wouldn’t put a product in our home, we won’t sell it to you to put in yours. We take every step that we can to ensure that the products we sell are safe.

When a children’s item is recalled, we search our inventory database and if we find it, it is immediately taken off the floor. We notify the owners so that they can return it to the manufacturer. If we see that a recalled item has been sold, we do everything we can to contact the customer to let them know about the recall. Many of our customers are in our consignment database so we are able to contact them.

If you have a question about a children’s item, please don’t hesitate to contact us even if you didn’t buy it from us. We are happy to be a resource for you, particularly when it comes to kids’ stuff and safety. Give us a call at 480-443-3801.

Thank you!

AZ Kidz n More

Our Resale Shop is as Green as It Gets!

December 29, 2015December 30, 2015 2,178 Comments

dollhouse for sale at AZ Kidz n More resale shop — *Why buy a new dollhouse? Resales are up!*

We can honestly say that our resale shop has been green from the start!

Secondhand and Resale Shops are Green Businesses

Resale shops like AZ Kidz n More are the oldest kind of green businesses. Everything in here is recycled to resell, reuse, and in some cases, repurpose.

For example, dog owners often come to us for baby gates to use in housebreaking new puppies. More than one has left with a few Beanie Babies for their furry kids! Older kids and adults dig around for toys to use in art projects and take apart and rebuild into something new.

Many customers need a car seat or stroller for a visiting grandchild or great-nephew/niece.

Our family-owned consignment business offers gently-used clothes, toys, books, shoes, and other items someone has outgrown. Inventory comes from families around the Valley. Many are customers as well as partners and turn to us for newer items their growing kids need.

We’re a great way to help you de-clutter your home, too. Your kids outgrow toys as quickly as clothing, so if they’re in good condition, give us a call to schedule a drop-off.

If your items can’t consign, we will contact you to pick them up. If you don’t want them, they will be given to a local organization that operates domestic violence safe houses here in town.

Why Visit a Resale Shop?

Resale shops aren’t just less expensive than department stores. They’re more fun! You don’t know exactly what you’ll find each time you come to AZ Kidz n More, but we can guarantee you will have fun looking around: up at the ceiling, where our dragons hang out waiting for a new home, and down under the racks where you might spy a nice table or two-drawer nightstand.

Here are some other reasons we encourage you to embrace resale shopping:

It keeps money in the community. A portion of each purchase goes back to the consigning
Can you find our kitty Mayhem?

family. And we are a family business run by a mother and son. (The cat doesn’t do much.)
It’s easier to spot quality. Although we carefully review everything before we put it on the floor to make sure it functions, is clean, and is safe, you can tell which items really did stand up to year-over-year use.
You’ll find brand names at a fraction of the original cost. Keep your kids looking great without dropping a load of cash!
New items arrive each day. Our customers drop off items just about every day of the week. It’s hard to keep up with them but we love it!
Secondhand shopping seems to put people in a recycling frame of mind, and that’s good for everyone. No one can escape the environment so we all need to do what we can.

Support Local Recycling Efforts in Scottsdale

Scottsdale runs a residential recycling program for single-family homes. If you live in a multi-family home, your community can also participate, as our neighbors at Park Scottsdale II have done for a few years now. Learn more at Scottsdale’s recycling website where you can ask for a recycling container.

The city of Scottsdale sponsors a drop-off for items that shouldn’t be thrown away, like broken or outdated electronics and items with hazardous materials inside such as batteries a few times each year. Here’s Scottsdale’s recycling dropoff schedule for 2016. Some of the items the site says it won’t accept it does take, including microwave ovens and batteries.