Switcheroo caters to area’s growing families
The mom-and-pop nature of Brian and Holly Joseph’s new business came through in the little giggles and pint-sized shrieks radiating from the store’s kids’ corner on a Thursday afternoon. As the tot triad worked their way around the small slide in the makeshift playground inside Switcheroo, a children’s resale store in the River City Center, a handful of mothers perused the store’s organized aisles and traded in outgrown clothing by the bin.
That family-friendly atmosphere, along with the trade-in service, array of name-brand items and a clean interior, are some of the features that make Switcheroo an appealing option for parents of ever-growing children, said Brian and Holly Joseph.
“Kids grow so quickly that it’s hard to keep them in clothes, so to be able to trade the clothes they’ve grown out of is a wonderful thing,” said Holly Joseph, adding that as a mother of three, she knows firsthand the soaring expenses tied to growing children.
At their recently opened store Switcheroo, the Josephs help alleviate those costs by offering new and gently-used children’s clothes, baby furniture, toys, baby gear, including Melissa and Doug art supplies, and maternity clothing. Customers can also open a trade-in account at the store, which operates essentially as a bank account. Their transactions are logged on a computer and the parents can opt for cash or in-store credit that can be put toward any of the varied items.
The Josephs, both 35, recently moved the business to Post Falls from Spokane Valley, where a few years ago they bought the former Little People’s Exchange store and transformed it into Switcheroo. The couple built the business on their individual strengths: Brian Joseph has 14 years of retail management experience from Target, and Holly Joseph has been doing the family shopping for their children ages 12, 7 and 3.
After a successful two-year run in the Valley, which they saw through a remodel and expansion, the family decided to relocate the store closer to home, since they’d been living in the Post Falls area for several years. The couple’s extensive search for a new location ended at the River City Center, where the business strip provided the perfect site in the up-and-coming area straddling the high-traffic Highway 41.
While sifting through a tub of brought-in children’s clothing in Switcheroo’s new home, Holly Joseph said, “I’ve always shopped at stores like this, and Brian’s always run stores, so together we make a pretty good team …We love working together as a family.”
In keeping with their family-friendly foundation, the owners donate to local charities any clothes they don’t accept and offer a 10 percent discount to foster families and grandparents. The trade-in items are accepted based on condition and demand, with baby gear such as cribs, highchairs and lightweight strollers topping the list.
Since opening Switcheroo, the business has been a valuable resource for parents, especially for the cash-strapped who want name-brand items for their children but don’t want to pay department store prices, the owners said. Even though they’ve only been open a short time and haven’t done any advertising, they’ve already had a handful of former customers cross the state line to shop. “The fact that you can get rid of some old items and get some new ones – it’s recycling. It kind of goes along with the go-green movement,” Brian said.
As north Spokane resident Derek Domitrovich hauled in containers crammed with used baby gear that his family had been stockpiling, his wife Martha, a mother of three children and pregnant with the couple’s fourth child, caught up with Holly Joseph. The young Spokane couple have been Switcheroo customers for several years and became friends with the Joseph family through their frequent visits.
“It’s really convenient and everything is always clean,” Martha Domitrovich said, while keeping an eye on her three kids ducking in and out of the play area and slide. “And her husband is a stickler for the recall list, so you know you are going to get stuff that’s clean and safe. It’s not a chain, so they take more pride in what they have to offer … We usually leave with bags and bags of things and spend only about $100.”
Added Holly Joseph, “And I get to talk to all these ladies and get connected. It’s almost like a family.”
If you go
Switcheroo, a children’s resale store, is in Suite 8 of the River City Center at 920 Highway 41 in Post Falls. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call 777-2872 or go to www.switcherooresale.com.