After a decade of serving the families of Santa Clara, a well-known kids consignment store is shutting its doors. At the beginning of the year, Kid to Kid owner Steve Sanfilippo announced he would close the store this month.
“We’ve been struggling on and off just to pay our rent for a few years. We’ve gotten behind in paying it and then would catch up and then get behind again,” said Sanfilippo. “It’s kind of the business environment we’re in especially with how much the rent is and everything. It’s just a lot. We kept going for the last year. It’s actually probably been three or four years longer than made sense.”
In addition to financial problems, other issues prevented Sanfilippo from keeping the store open any longer. His lease at the Mariposa Shopping Center on Homestead Road is ending and the property management company does not want to renew it. Sanfilippo’s franchise agreement with Kid to Kid is also coming to a close. While Sanfilippo wanted to keep going, the end of both contracts left the store owner with no other options.
“We’ve had a constant stream of customers in here who have told us all kinds of nice things and how they really appreciated us being here,” said Sanfilippo. “We heard a lot about how we’re a very community based business and how they appreciated that. I do feel that is really what you always hope for. It’s really nice to hear that. For me, and my staff, I think that we all liked what we were doing.”
Kid to Kid is a consignment store that buys and sells used kids clothing, toys, and gear. Sanfilippo says he’ll clear out the last of his merchandise before he shuts his doors for good.
“We just went to 30 percent off,” said Sanfilippo. “I’m staying open [because] we still have merchandise and we’re doing things that we need to do at the same time. It’s day by day.”
Sanfilippo says many customers have stopped by the store to say good-bye and many are asking what they can do to help.
“Honestly, the real unfortunate thing about this is that, personally, it’s not leaving me in a very good financial situation,” said Sanfilippo. “I have a lot of debt…I’m working on a lot of that…It’s not a good situation.”
Sanfilippo has set up a Go Fund Me account to try and get his family back on track. Customers have already stopped by the page to donate money and thank him for all of his hard work.
“For a long time, I’ve said that it was much more rewarding emotionally than financially,” said Sanfilippo in his Go Fund Me post. “A few weeks ago, I realized there was really no logical reason why we were still open except that we continued to believe in what we were doing and our commitment to our customers.”
Sanfilippo is not sure what he will do next, but he continues to believe in the Kid to Kid concept and thinks there’s still a place for it in the Santa Clara community.
To help Sanfilippo and his family, visit www.gofundme.com and search “Santa Clara Kid to Kid.”