MOM'S PLACE WOMAN OPENS STORE TO HELP CLOTHE GROWING FAMILIES.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer WEST HILLS - The way Marj Bravin figures it, if you can handle raising kids, you can take on just about anything. In her 74 years, she's already nurtured three sons and a daughter and doted dote intr.v. dot·ed, dot·ing, dotes To show excessive fondness or love: parents who dote on their only child. [Middle English doten. on six grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . And at an age when most folks are thinking of settling down, Bravin is putting her expertise to work in her children's consignment store consignment store n. A retail store that stocks and sells merchandise on consignment. , Kids to Kids. ``It's too bad they didn't have stores like this when I was raising my kids,'' Bravin said while hanging baby tops on a display rack. ``Clothes were so expensive and they outgrew out·grew v. Past tense of outgrow. them so fast.'' Bravin started Kids to Kids, located at the corner of Sherman Way and Shoup Avenue, with her daughter, Debbie Rose, in 1997 as a way to apply their motherly moth·er·ly adj. 1. Of, like, or appropriate to a mother: motherly love. 2. Showing the affection of a mother. adv. In a manner befitting a mother. instincts to business. Rose, then pregnant with her first child, wanted a new career, while Bravin wasn't ready for retirement. Bravin opens the store five days a week. The idea was suggested to her by Rose, who wanted to accommodate her growing family. After seeing a similar store while shopping for baby clothes and being drawn in by the low prices, she decided to give it a try herself. ``I'm an accountant by trade, but I wanted to shift careers to do something that would allow me to spend time with my children,'' she said. ``And who doesn't like dressing a child? I thought this was a great idea, since kids don't wear the clothes that much. It's been a ball now that I have two.'' From the start, it was a family affair. Rose tackled the finances while Bravin tended the shop, taking barely worn, high-quality kids wear, toys and accessories on consignment. Her sons Mark, Jonathan and Michael helped raise the funds, and husband Martin pitched in by fixing up toys and reconditioning them for sale. This proved to be more work than expected in the early days. ``My washer washer Orthopedics A flattened disk of metal with a central hole used to distribute stress under a screw head to prevent thin cortical bone from splitting; serrated washers are used to affix avulsed ligaments, small avulsion fractures or comminuted fractures to the and dryer were going constantly,'' Bravin remembered. ``My living room looked like a clothing store.'' With her home stuffed with piles of clothes awaiting resale, and Rose inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. with price tags, the duo realized they needed to reorganize re·or·gan·ize v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es v.tr. To organize again or anew. v.intr. To undergo or effect changes in organization. . And as all good mothers know, that needs a plan. They decided to limit what merchandise they'd take - only top-quality, freshly laundered clothes - and when - only limited shipments to prevent backlog. If merchandise hasn't sold in three months, the consigners have the option of taking it back or donating it to charity. Judging from the way the shop looks now, filled with virtually new clothes at cut-rate prices, the system's working. Though the customer base remains small, they are fiercely loyal. ``You have every reason to be proud of yourself,'' said Denise Dalven, a Canoga Park grandmother chatting with Bravin while inspecting hats. ``You're doing a real service to the community. When I was raising my own kids, all we had was the Salvation Army Salvation Army, Protestant denomination and international nonsectarian Christian organization for evangelical and philanthropic work. Organization and Beliefs The Salvation Army has established branches in 100 countries throughout the world. , which was pure dreck dreck n. Slang Trash, especially inferior merchandise. [German, dirt, trash and Yiddish drek, excrement, both from Middle High German drec . This is great, just like getting a big shipment of hand-me-downs from my second cousin second cousin n. 1. A child of a first cousin of one's parent. 2. A child of one's first cousin; a first cousin once removed. in Peoria.'' Dalven seems to be the kind of customer most retailers would kill for - she comes in at least once a month, and has outfitted an entire room at her home for grandson Jeremiah completely with Kids to Kids' merchandise. During her most recent stop, she picked up another batch of clothes for the rapidly growing 8-month-old, continually complaining about prices. They're too low, she said. ``Oh, you should mark this up,'' she said, examining the $10.95 price on a stuffed aviator bear. ``This is far too reasonable! And $4 for a hat? That's nothing! I paid $12.95 for the one he outgrew from Nordstrom.'' It's Bravin who inspires this extreme loyalty, Rose said. When they see a smiling grandmother catering to their shopping needs, instead of a faceless corporate salesman, they'll come back time after time. ``From a mother and grandmother standpoint, it makes her very accessible,'' she said. ``They feel comfortable around her.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Marjorie Bravin adjusts the Barney doll in her window display at Kids to Kids second-hand store Noun 1. second-hand store - a shop that sells secondhand goods at reduced prices thriftshop shop, store - a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services; "he bought it at a shop on Cape Cod" in West Hills. (2 -- 3 -- color) Denise Dalven, a regular shopper, considers buying a pair of overalls for her grandson at Kids to Kids consignment store in West Hills. So quickly outgrown, children's shoes are a popular item. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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