Tammy and Gary Wilson liked Hillsboro so much they decided to open a children’s clothing store, featuring clothing and other items from newborn to preteen.
“About three years ago we bought a house out at the lake off of North Shore Drive, and then we began kicking around the idea of opening a small shop that had kids’ items,” Gary said.
The couple lives in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek and plan to eventually retire and downsize to their smaller home at Rocky Fork Lake.
“We had been coming to Hillsboro for the past 17 years,” he said, “and we were surprised to find that if a parent wanted to buy new and gently used kids items, you had to drive to Wilmington, Chillicothe or Washington C.H., or spend the weekend visiting five to 10 yard sales.”
Kids Country Barn will be located at 145 Catherine St., on the corner of Catherine and North West streets in Hillsboro. The grand opening is set for Oct. 5-6.
“We’ll have a soft opening on Friday the fifth,” Tammy said, “and our grand opening will be on Saturday, Oct. 6.”
The grand opening will feature hot dogs, cookies and soft drinks for kids and their parents, in addition to guessing games as to the number of M & Ms and candy coins in a jar, and a coloring contest.
“We’ll be having not only gently used clothing and toys,” she said, “but we’ll have name brand items as well like Levi, Cherokee, Reebok, Spaulding, Nike, Gerber, Old Navy and on down the line.”
They had originally planned to open their store back in January, but a family medical emergency put everything on hold.
“That’s when we found out my father was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer,” she said. “So he did all the therapy and treatments, and he later told us the doctors can’t find the cancer now, so we took that as a good sign to go ahead with the store.”
The Wilsons are quick to point out their store isn’t a consignment shop, but they do sell new and gently used items, and will also buy items from customers.
“We will buy your items as long as they’re clean, not torn or stained and in the case of toys, not broken,” she said. “We do a ‘60-40.’ In other words, we’ll give you 40 percent of what we think it will sell for and since we’re not a consignment store, we’ll pay you cash right there and then.”
The Wilson’s daughter, Crystal McKinley, will be the manager of Kids Country Barn.
She and her husband Brandon live in Middletown and are in the process of finding a house and relocating to the Hillsboro area.
“I think everybody will like it once they come in and see us,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of people looking in the windows and wanting to come in a look around, so we’re real excited.”
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571
