POINT LOMA – Named for a family sing-along, Loop-de-Loo’s children’s resale shop off Voltaire Street in Point Loma offers exceptional deals on gently used clothing at affordable prices.
With a healthcare background as a nurse, Lindsay Rutherford, the daughter of one of the principals in HGW Architecture in Ocean Beach on Bacon Street, has embarked on a new career as proprietor of the newly opened children’s resale shop.
Needing resale children’s clothing herself is one reason Rutherford opened Loop-de-Loo’s at 4030 Wabaska Drive in Point Loma Heights, which carries children’s clothing and shoes, sizes newborn to 14, along with toys, books, and some baby gear.
With three children of her own, Rutherford knows just how fast they grow and how keeping them clothed is a constant challenge.
“All three of my kids were under the age of 3 at some point, so we went through a ton of clothes,” said Rutherford, who grew up in Point Loma but lived on the East Coast with her Navy husband before returning.
“We have swimwear, dance wear, sports wear, dress-up clothes, and cloth diapers,” notes the resale shop on its website. “To sell your items, we require them to be in excellent condition with minimal wear and tear.”
She switched from nursing to resale retail because of “a harebrained idea that just kept evolving.”
She had been out with her mother and sister, chatting about what the area needed.
And the answer came back: “We need a kid’s resale shop,” said Rutherford. “There are so many kids in our community, and our kids are in elementary school, so I feel like we’re plugged in to extra-curricular activities.”
Loop-de-Loo’s is set up to be the go-to place in the Peninsula where people can come in and swap their old children’s clothing for like-new threads.
Though her store is named after a song, Rutherford pointed out she also liked how the name Loop “gives you that image of a circular vision,” a robust resale market where clothing gets recycled.
“A lot of clothes in here either have never been worn — some even have the tags on still — or are minimally worn,” she said. “It’s kind of nice to have an opportunity to earn something for them (kids’ clothes), and know they’re going to be loved by somebody else.”
Looking around the resale shop are deep rows of kids’ clothing on hangers as well as a little bit of baby gear, like strollers, toys, and a few pieces of sports gear like wetsuits, snowboarding, and ski apparel.
“We’ve got a whole rack of swimsuits,” Rutherford said, adding she really likes her new store’s location on upper Voltaire.
“We get a ton of walkers, a lot of people with stroller-age kids who just come in from walking the neighborhood,” she said. “We’ve got kind of a resale consignment alley here.”
