Desiree Dillavou is the owner of Once Upon a Child here in Missoula—a highly anticipated arrival to our community for its plethora of thrifted items for children. Everything from clothes to toys to book and baby equipment is here under one roof, and for a discounted rate when compared to buying brand new. Desiree is excited by the sustainable outcomes that are a direct effect from thrifting.
How did Once Upon a Child come to Missoula?
My family moved to Missoula in 2018. I had lived in, grew up, and raised my kids in Rapid City, South Dakota. There, we had a Once Upon a Child, and so I shopped and sold there for years, and when we moved here my youngest at the time was still only 8 years old so the first thing I did was try to find a Once Upon a Child. There wasn’t one, so that’s kind of where it started. I thought a thrift store or some type of secondhand store would be such a cool idea. About two years ago I started looking into Once Upon a Child a little more and noticed that on the website it has “own a store” so I clicked on it and that’s where it started. I think it would be a great addition to Missoula. Not only will we get to do something for ourselves but it’s also a giveback to the community. Not only are we selling clothes that are more reasonably priced, making things more affordable for local families, but also all the money that we spend on inventory goes back into the pockets of the community so I just loved the whole concept of it.
What is Once Upon a Child?
We pay cash on the spot for all items that we buy. You can choose cash or in-store credit. There’s no payment necessary, you just bring in the items that you want to sell and my staff and I go through each item trying to find the ones that are in the best shape, the ones that are like-new condition, and then once we’ve gone through it all, we just call the customer back and let them know that their payout in ready. They come and we make them an offer. We are always buying. We buy all hours of the day, no appointment necessary. We buy all seasons, all year long. We’re looking for clothes, size preemie to youth 20. We buy children’s shoes, boots, sandals, all that good stuff. We take toys, books, equipment—from bassinets to high chairs, swings, bouncers—all of the baby things that you need. We can’t take carseats for safety reasons but pretty much everything else—strollers, diaper changing tables, cribs. They have to be in really great condition. They can’t have any paint chipping or anything like that. Also, with our baby equipment, safety standards are really important to us—we always check for recalls.
What does the phrase “Golden Age of Reuse” mean to you?
Sustainability is really important to me, just in general. We are putting so much into the landfill every year, every day. Just being able to keep a little bit out of there and also being able to save money on these children that are growing so quickly. Often times, before they get a chance to wear their clothes a few times, they’re outgrowing them and they’re in great shape. The next parent can take those items and make some money and save our environment at the same time. That’s what I love about it.
What makes you excited about championing this shift to thrift?
Because my kids are grown, I’m sort of relearning. There’s a whole lot more available than there was 20 years ago. Stuff is cuter, softer—even the tags are softer. Kids have sensitivities to different tags so we try to buy newer stuff that don’t have the harder tags that might irritate the back of their neck or backs. What I love about thrift shopping and being able to go to stores like mine—Once Upon a Child—is that you have every different style you can imagine. It’s not like going into a box store and knowing what style you’re going to find at that store. It’s everything from everywhere. If you are looking for a certain type, you can most likely find what you’re looking for because so many different people bring stuff in and the styles are endless. I love that families can come in and it can be a one-stop-shop a lot of times—you can find your shoes, your coat, your holiday wear, and maybe the kids find something that they can play with or a book—we have so many books. We have a lot of inventory, it’s very exciting.
How do thrift prices stack up to brand new items?
Generally, our prices are about 70% off of what you might find them for retail. Equipment is probably more 50-60% off of retail. Again, condition makes a difference in how we price things for sure.
Desiree Dillavou has three daughters (24, 21, 16) and all three work in-store with her, fulfilling different roles and using their strengths to help out. Her youngest, though still in high school, has dreams of pursing a career in marketing and is getting an early leg-up by handling the social media posts and marketing for Once Upon a Child Missoula. One thing that Desiree beams about is how well they are all getting along. "It's been really fun," says Desiree. Her husband finds time to do little fix-it-up stuff for the store despite his demanding sales manager status at a local dealership. "It's been a fulfilling family experience for sure," says Desiree. In their downtime as a family, they enjoy wake surfing and boating so they frequent Placid Lake most weekends throughout the summer.
"The next parent can take those items and make some money and save our environment at the same time. That’s what I love about it."