Penny Pinchers

Isaac Daniel / The Franklin

Kids Kloset owner Kim Cassel shows off one of her Greenwood store. Kids Kloset was recently honored as one of the 2009 Indiana Companies to Watch by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

PRINT THIS COMMENTS (1) SEND TO A FRIEND

MARK AS FAVORITE

The Kids Kloset is a win-win kind of store.

That’s how Kim Cassel describes her business, a plain little store in a plain little Greenwood strip mall that stands out for buying used children’s clothing and toys and reselling them for a fraction of the normal retail price.

Now, this plain little store is receiving statewide attention. In August, Kids Kloset was honored as one of the 2009 Indiana Companies to Watch by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The award is reserved for 50 private businesses with up to 150 employees that have between $750,000 to $100 million in annual revenue.

Cassel calls the award an honor and says it recognizes her store’s success, growth and stability.

"It has piqued people’s interest," she said. "We have had a lot of people calling us wanting to know how they could start their own franchise."

Cassel started the business on her own 11 years ago after several years of working for a big-time retail corporation.

"I used to travel about 90 percent of the time," Cassel said. "I decided I wanted to start building something for the community."

Cassel did not have kids at the time of the store’s first opening, but her extensive retail background told her there was a definite place for a used children’s clothing store.

Kids Kloset not only allows parents to make money selling old items their children will inevitably outgrow, but it also gives new parents an affordable place to shop for anything from gently used changing tables to story books to Halloween costumes.

Franklin College junior Jordan Kapitan has worked summers at Kids Kloset for the past four years. With the economy in its current lackluster state, Kapitan says she has noticed more people coming into the store as they attempt to cut back on expenses.

"With how things are now, a lot of people would rather buy things used," Kapitan explained. She added this trend is a big contributor to the store’s remarkable success.

The Greenwood store was only the first of many: there are now six locations in the Indianapolis area, and Cassel says there are soon to be more.

Originally, Cassel wanted to keep the stores close to home in order to closely monitor operations, but she said she is now ready to make Kids Kloset a nationwide franchise.