Our last report from our week of celebrating thrift shops in honor of National Thrift Store Day is by Reise, who visited a popular Los Angeles area children’s resale shop.
Jessica Castaneda is an avid long time thrifter who understands that having an eye for beautiful quality clothing does not mean the clothing has to come at a huge cost. When her son was born three years ago, she turned her keen eye to thrifted children’s clothing.
Looking for quality clothing for her son became a spark of inspiration that grew into her dream of one day owning a resale boutique, child-sized. Today she is the proud owner of The Green Bean, a children’s resale and consignment store in Eagle Rock, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Green Bean specializes in, “Kids Resale Everything,” clothing, shoes, gear, books, toys – yes, everything.
The store is a community mainstay that’s been around more than eight years. Jessica took over early in 2018 and continues its operation with the same mission to be of service to local parents and young families.
As a mom of three who thrifts, I know how hard it can be to shop for children’s clothes. Babies are stain-prone and kids are rough and tumble. Their garments often take a beating. At The Green Bean, the staff carefully sorts the clothes to ensure no clothing with stains, tears or other damage makes it to the floor. Items are “gently used,” and in looking through the store, I found plenty of new items with tags. These are likely the fallout from a child outgrowing something before they had a chance to wear it.
Jessica says, “Each piece is hand-picked with a critical eye to make sure everything they bring is worthy of being in here.” The Green Bean’s clientele brings in items for resale by appointment and are given a 40 percent in-store credit.
The store is unique in that sellers are also built-in buyers. Since the store stocks clothing from 0 to 3 months all the way to children’s size 14, families grow up with the store. “It helps kids to learn to recycle, reuse, repurpose. Kids are a part of The Green Bean cycle,” she says. “They take their clothes and put them in The Green Bean bag and bring them in to get new ones.”
The Green Been is located at 5060 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041. If you happen to be local, you are in luck. The Green Bean is having a massive Back to School Sale Aug. 17-19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
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