“I think what makes us unique is that we care just as much about what a child wears, uses or plays with as the parents,” says Ed Sullivan, owner of Once Upon a Child in Warwick.

The Once Upon a Child franchise is a reseller of children’s clothes, toys and equipment and trademark of Winmark Corporations. The company began in 1985 in Columbus, Ohio when Lynn and Dennis Blum, with a plethora of clothes from their own children, began buying and selling “gently used” clothing and toys. In 1992 Once Upon a Child was sold to Winmark Corporation and it began franchising, expanding to what is now nearly 300 stores nationwide.

In September, Ed and Paula Sullivan and David and Meg MacDonald opened their own Once Upon a child at the Bald Hill Plaza on Route 2. Their opening mantra: “Better than Nordstrom service and lower than Walmart prices.” The four partners occupied the store in August, buying goods for six weeks and then on Sept. 23 opened for customers.

Just over a year ago the foursome noticed a space in Rhode Island business for a quality children’s reseller. All four are family-oriented and understood just how much more expensive it is becoming to raise a family.

Ed Sullivan said, “We are fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers we know what it is like to raise a family, we have a lot of experience with young families. We know financially it can be hard. And this franchise has been so successful elsewhere and there was nothing else like it in Rhode Island.”

The Sullivans and the MacDonalds then began the long franchising process, visiting Winmark Headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota for franchise training three separate times while trying to find a space and acquiring the proper permits from both Winmark and the city.

Sullivan said, “The City of Warwick has been phenomenal to work with. This city cared as much about me getting open as I did. This was the most helpful atmosphere. Once we opened we were pleasantly surprised if not shocked at how welcoming customers were.”

Sullivan estimates that Once Upon a Child has nearly 100 new buying customers and about 50 new selling customers a day.

Sullivan said, “I ask our customers about their experiences, give them the opportunity to criticize. I figure that the information can help us get better, but universally people love our service. I have never gotten a complaint since we opened in September.”

Customers are happy to come forward with praise for the new Once Upon a Child.

Helen Biancani, who was there with her daughter and granddaughter from California said, “This is the fourth or fifth time I have been here. It’s fun to browse. The quality is really good and the staff is very helpful. I have been satisfied every time I have come.”

Many of the employees have young families. Although not planned, Sullivan said that he enjoys the dynamic it creates and think it’s for the best of Once Upon a Child.

He said, “A lot of our employees have young families of their own. They are very helpful to our customers because they are more than likely going through or have gone through the same things. When a customer has a question about a product our employees can answer from experience, what their own kids enjoyed, what they didn’t like. For the new mothers who come in here that can be really helpful.”

Luann Perkins, a regular customer, said, “This store just is a golden treasure. The thoughtfulness and the cleanliness is beyond compare, they have their priorities right. Everyone there is just so kind and courteous it’s absolutely amazing. We live in such a throw away society, I don’t believe in that and to see a store like this, this is the type of atmosphere we need. There are a lot of consignment shops around, but none like this.”

Sullivan assures that the reason it is so unlike other consignment shops is that it is not a consignment shop. Once Upon a Child is a reseller. When customers come in to sell their gently used goods to the store they get cash right up front, they do not enter into a contract as they would with a consignment shop.

Sullivan said, “Cash is king these days and we are taking on all of the risk by giving you money right up front for goods we can use.”

Part of what has made Once Upon a Child so successful across the country is the high quality standard they keep themselves to. Clothes must be freshly laundered and in next to new condition, in current style, what Sullivan calls “rack ready” The store itself is set up to look as similar to a new retail store as possible. In the 4,200 square foot there are aisles and sections for clothes, toys, shoes, and equipment. Warwick’s Once Upon a Child is also registered with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and receives daily updates to ensure that all their products are safe for children, automatically taking something off the shelves if it is recalled. They also destroy the items before throwing them out. This ensures that there is no way the item can be used by others.

Sullivan said, “We are not going to insult our customers by selling less than the best quality of gently used goods or by putting their kids at risk. We want to make shopping at Once Upon a Child as close as possible to shopping in your regular retail store. There are a lot of people out there who are hurting and are being treated lesser because of it. We refuse to have that attitude here. We are going to treat you the same way as if you were buying all new items.”

Once Upon a Child has some of the most recent brand names, including, but not limited to Tommy Hilfiger, Ugg, Abercrombie, Ralph Lauren and Hasbro. The store sells these items for 50 to 75 percent off what they would be sold off the shelf and then has sales of their own when they are in next to new condition.

Perkins said, “Ed has this one store, but he is helping so many people.’

Sullivan and his partners think the best part of having opened a Once Upon a Child is ensuring children are receiving quality clothes and toys without heir parents breaking the bank.

“I must see over 50 kids a day and its just fun,” Sullivan said, “Every single one of them is different, but they all at some point make you laugh. The really rewarding side of all this is seeing those kids smile and know their needs are being taken care of at reasonable prices.”

Within the next six months Sullivan and his partners are looking to expand their stores into Southern Massachusetts in either Foxboro or Attleboro.

The store is open 6 days a week from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. On Sundays they open at 11a.m. and close at 5 p.m. For more information on Once Upon a Child visit their website, www.onceuponachildwarwick.com.