Duck Duck Blue: Buy, sell, trade fun toys and great kids’ clothing
Dallas Blanton and Lauren Daunhauer’s ideas collided in December, resulting in Duck Duck Blue, a new store specializing in used toys and children’s clothing that opens in Jasper this week.
“I had long dreamed of a toy store,” Dallas explained, adding he’s been an avid collector for a long time.
With two young growing boys, Lauren appreciates going to yard sales and consignment shops for clothing.
“It’s a struggle to keep them in clothes; they grow so fast,” she echoed every parent’s struggle. “I always thought it would be nice to have something like this [a buy, sell, trade shop] in Jasper.”
After that fateful day in December, when the two voiced their ideas out loud, they quickly formulated a plan to launch the business. Dallas has a background in sourcing used toys—he operates a YouTube channel with a sizable following that chronicles his finds. He channeled that experience into finding kids’ clothing.
The location fell into their laps while eating at Chavas Mexican Grill. They peered out the window and considered the building that formerly housed Audio World. They knew it was for rent and decided to reach out.
“We called the number and were in here about two weeks later,” Lauren said.
Since then, the couple has been busy creating a business focused on fun for kids and utility for parents seeking to keep up with their kid’s fashion needs. Located next to CVS at the Jasper “Y”, the couple’s new store features gently used toys, collectibles, video games and gaming systems along with racks full stylish kids clothing and shoes.
When you enter the store, you are immediately met with toys. Dallas and Lauren want people to know that the kids are welcome to play while parents peruse the clothes. There are plenty of things to keep the kids busy, too.
“I wanted something closer to how Toys R Us made me feel when I was young,” Dallas said. “Which is to say there was always something interactive at Toys R Us.”
The front area is filled with Pokemon cards, action figures, Thomas the Train, Nerf guns, Legos and plush stuffed characters.
There are bins of toys for kids to dig through to find their next treasure or just something cool to play with.
Televisions around the store feature kid-centric shows, and he plans to hook up a Nintendo Wii for kids to play while they wait to try on clothes.
The clothing sizes run from preemie through size 16 and fill the racks in the back. Stylish, well-maintained and affordable, prices start at about $1 to $3 for infants and $2 to $6 for kids.
“It is used, but the clothing is not obviously used,” Lauren said. “We only take in the stuff that is good quality. It is clothing you will want to put your kids in.”
In Buy-Sell-Trade fashion, Dallas and Lauren want folks to bring in their gently used items and toys for store credit or cash.
Duck Duck Blue, the fun name is a call back to Dallas’ days playing guitar in a band–he admits that every guitar he’s ever owned he has purchased from a buy, sell, trade store. During this time, he procured a large rubber ducky that reigned from atop his guitar amp during performances in the future. This led to people constantly giving him rubber ducks.
The ducky has the telltale signs of travel but now sits proudly on the counter near the cash register.
Dallas developed the name by combining his graphic design background with the duck theme. He had the duck duck part down but struggled with the last word when he woke up in the middle of the night with blue on his mind. Duck Duck Blue was perfect.
It was a fun callback to Duck Duck Goose and he had a vision for merchandise based on the logo. Now, along with the toys and clothes, he has several variations of Duck Duck Blue-themed shirts and more available for purchase.
The store is an extension of Dallas and Lauren’s vision to fill a gap in the community.
“We are friends with a lot of parents and the glaring general consensus between all of the friends is they hate driving out of town to buy kids clothing,” Dallas said.
Lauren agrees.
“Jasper is a good town full of a lot of young families,” she added. “And, there really is nothing like this here, a Buy Sell Trade for kids.”
The store officially opens this Saturday, July 13, at 9:30 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting hosted by the Jasper Chamber of Commerce. Located at 701 West 6th Street in Jasper, the store hours will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. You can follow them on Facebook here and call them at 812-631-5757.
