Sep 12, 2008

Small Retail: Sugarlump benefits from sweet locationBy Paul NyhanSeattlePI.NWSource.com

From the sidewalk, Sugarlump looks like another baby boutique.

Once inside, though, you realize the children’s store is less chic and more comfortable. A place where you can buy your toddler a couple pairs of shoes, party dress and hip raincoat — all for roughly $50.

Welcome to Sugarlump, one of the latest additions to Seattle’s network of trendy children’s consignment shops that also taps into parents’ green desire to use and reuse, as long as their kids still look sharp.

Tucked into Madison Valley, Sugarlump is narrow but neat, packed with $4 onesies for newborns, $35 suede winter coats for toddlers and gear that generally mirrors tastes of well-heeled parents in the surrounding Madison Park, Montlake, Madrona and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

But Sugarlump isn’t pure consignment. The store also sells new stuff — diaper bags, lamps, a smattering of toys and a collection of children’s books that covers an impressive range of popular authors from Dr. Seuss to Mo Willems.

“Unique, inexpensive — those would be (the) best things about it,” Shelley Bolser said as she shopped with her 1-year-old daughter.

You might not find your child’s entire fall wardrobe on the racks, but you’ll probably spot a trendy $7 sweater, $5 T-shirt and maybe a $20 bumper for your baby’s crib.

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