2024-02-27 18:32:03
– Strollers, toys and car seats find a second life
A new store combines new and second-hand, rental and buy-back guarantee to encourage the reuse of children’s objects.
Published: 02/27/2024, 7:32 p.m.
Cyril, Alexandra and Leila manage the Babyloop store which opened a few weeks ago in Chêne-Bourg.
IRINA POPA
A high chair, a cradle, a stroller, a car seat: so many necessary objects but whose useful life only extends over a handful of years. Once the baby has grown up, they often end up covered in dust in a cellar. However, most of these items are still in good condition and might have a second life.
More and more parents are turning to second-hand products, both out of ecological conviction and for reasons of cost. You still need to know where to find these recycled objects and where to give/resell your own… To put these objects back on the market, initiatives have flourished in Geneva, from the informal group of parents on social networks to specialized stores.
Alexandra, 54 years old, and Leila, 29 years old, have created a Geneva non-profit association, ADBAP (Association for the sustainability of goods in the field of childcare articles), which is part of this logic of reuse .
With Cyril, 33, they opened a store a few weeks ago in Chêne-Bourg, “BABYLOOP”. “Loop”, which means loop in English, sums up their concept: putting objects already used back into the circuit to promote a virtuous circle of recycling. “Reusing materials is good for the planet and for the wallet!”
Quality second hand
The three professionals, who have worked in the field of childcare, offer both new and used items that they clean and repair themselves. “We recovered a stock that was given to us following the closure of a business, all the second hand comes from donations,” says Alexandra, who was responsible for the Caritas children’s goods store.
She insists on the quality of the recycled objects offered for sale: “The outlook on second-hand goods is still negative, we want to show that these products can be of quality. Maybe people will come to us to buy new things and, seeing the quality of second-hand goods, they will change their mindset and finally opt for recycling. It’s a way of helping to change mentalities.”
Rental and buyback guarantee
BABYLOOP is not the first brand to offer second-hand items for sale. “Where we stand out,” notes Alexandra, “is in our service offering.” And to cite the short or long term rental of certain items – for example car seats -, an offer of advice for certain purchases, in particular strollers.
The store also offers consignment sales, which means that a customer can leave items on sale for a month and if they do not find a buyer, they can take them back or transfer them to the store.
“Above all,” adds the manager, “we offer a buyback guarantee on equipment sold by us. Not for a cheap stroller but for objects whose quality we know allows them to last. We can therefore repurchase up to 33% of the purchase price if the returned item is in good condition.”
Clothes too
Finally, the brand also offers second-hand clothing “but we are not a second-hand store”.
In Geneva, there are a number of other initiatives to encourage the reuse of childcare items, to name only the Caritas stores, clothing exchanges in the municipalities – including Meyrin, Lancy and Plan-les-Ouates -, second-hand or barter shops like Troc-T-Trucs in Les Avanchets, consignment stores like the Île aux Trésors boutique.
Online, second-hand children’s items, for purchase and sale, proliferate, on platforms but also through numerous private or public groups on social networks – such as “Les petits Ventes des Mamans du Canton de Genève”, “BB VIDE DRESSING – Geneva”.
There are still WhatsApp groups, like “THE GANG’S MARKETPLACE”, which has over 950 members. Finally, for those who prefer rental to purchase, the Vet’lok association has created a children’s clothing library, open once a month in the Jonction eco-district.
Aurélie Toninato has been a journalist in the Geneva section since 2010 and a graduate of the Academy of Journalism and Media. After covering the field of Education, she is now mainly responsible for issues related to Health.More info
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