Thanks to Dakota County for their support.
A sustainable kids clothing resale and consignment boutique is set to open in West St. Paul this month. Eco Chico is focused on eco-conscious, budget friendly, and convenient clothing for kids.
Where: 1201 S. Robert Street, Suite 7a (Signal Hills)
When: The soft opening is set for October 30 with a grand opening to follow on November 24.
Eco Chico’s mission: Eco Chico’s goal isn’t just to make sustainable parenting easier, it’s giving parents options that don’t break the bank. They want to make it easy and affordable to be an eco-conscious parent.
- “We want to enable parents to be eco-conscious in a really convenient way,” said owner Krystell Theisen Escobar.
- It’s about solving an age-old problem for parents: “What do I do with all these clothes that don’t fit my kid?”
- The benefit of Eco Chico over other forms of clothing donation or consignment options is their business model: it’s planet first at every step.
How Eco Chico Started
The vision for Eco Chico started about 10 years ago when she attended a conference that highlighted regions of the world with high investment opportunities that were also being negatively impacted by climate change. During the presentation, her home region of Tabasco, Mexico was the first place mentioned.
“The first thing I tried to do was, hey, you know, I’m a consumer, I have a family, what can I actually do?,” said Theisen Escobar. “As I started raising my children, at the time I had one child, fast forward then I had a second and third. And I was just seeing, wow, the amount of consumption that was necessary with raising children was pretty daunting.”
She found that raising kids and maintaining an eco-conscious lifestyle were really hard to do simultaneously, so she decided to change that. She built Eco Chico from the ground up to give parents the opportunity to do both.
Why West St. Paul? Theisen Escobar was introduced to both the West Side and West St. Paul while attending college at the University of Minnesota. She gained a sense of belonging in the community while volunteering at Neighborhood House teaching English as a second language
- “I grew up in the Brooklyn Park area and that’s a great community,” Theisen Escobar said. “But when I found the West Side and West St. Paul, I felt completely at home. I think it is a phenomenal place to be a bicultural family.”
Sell Your Clothes
Eco Chico offers a 50/50 split for consignment which is unlike most of its competitors. They take basic information such as ID and phone number and lay out exactly what you are getting in return. They want to make the dollar amount you receive for your items super transparent.
- They are looking for clean, undamaged children’s clothing and accessories. Theisen Escobar said there is an extra demand for size 8 and above, shoes and winter gear. A full list can be found on their Facebook page.
- They pay a 50% bonus for the following items: organic fiber, new items with tags, as well as many name brands.
- You can either receive digital payment or store credit. They do not give or accept cash.
- Eco Chico is also partnered with Guiding Star Wakota to make sure if they can’t take something that nothing goes to waste.
Nov. 16, 2023 Update: Grand Opening
Eco Chico is hosting their grand opening on Friday, November 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The grand opening is really all weekend, but during the Black Friday event they’ll have balloons, face painting, temporary tattoos, tasty treats, and several community leaders will be there.
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