Shoppers seek surprises, discounts at pop-up kids sale in Lombard
A big vacant store in Lombard has life for two more days this week as a hub for gently used children's goods, sold cheap.
Rhea Lana's of West Chicagoland, a large-scale pop-up consignment store for clothes, toys, furniture and other kid-related gear, continues 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at 1161 S. Main St.
The store has operated twice a year in several locations since 2010, and it moved to Lombard this season from its most recent outpost at a former Kmart in Naperville.
“It's surrounded by awesome communities,” said sale owner Christine DeGraf, who grew up in Lombard. “We hit a lot of the market — the moms that love shopping trendy at discount prices and the moms that need to shop at discount prices.”
Prices were set by each of 800 consignors who submitted items to be sold during the eight-day event. Many items drop to half-price for the sale's final two days Friday and Saturday.
The store originally contained 81,000 items, DeGraf said, highlighted by strollers, Halloween costumes, hats, boots, scarves and other winter gear, books, diaper bags and a variety of toys. By Thursday morning, she said between 40,000 and 50,000 things remained.
Kelly Frazier and Erica Dubose of Villa Park checked out the selection Thursday morning with their young girls, who gravitated toward a pretend kitchen with a sink, stove and microwave in pale pink, purple and yellow. Frazier, who said she's shopped at Rhea Lana's before when it was in Naperville, brought along Dubose for her first experience with the pop-up sale.
“It's just fun to see what kind of surprise you can take home,” Frazier said.
The next such sale DeGraf is hosting, Rhea Lana's of Fox Valley, is scheduled for Oct. 22-28 in the Westridge Court shopping center at 2639 Aurora Ave. in Naperville.