Katie's Kids Clothes is closing down

Wednesday 14th May, 2025

Hi everyone. This is a message I hoped I would never have to write, but...it’s time to say goodbye.

After nearly eight years of running Katie’s Kids Clothes, and nearly two years of running our sister preloved company Buildabundle, we have had to make the extremely sad, and difficult, decision to close the businesses down.

Unfortunately, over the last couple of years we have seen a steady decline in sales, most likely due to the increased popularity of Vinted, and this meant that we were forced to lower our prices to compete. That, coupled with increasing running costs, meant that we had to reduce our overheads as much as possible.

You will probably have noticed that we had to let our lovely little team go at the end of last year, and that was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, as they were just fabulous, and I miss them every day. I would like to say a huge thank you to Kim, Rachel & Kate for everything you did for our little business.

Mr KKC and I have been running the business alone for the last 5 months, whilst juggling our other commitments. With the lease on our premises coming up for renewal later this year, we’ve had to think about what we want out of life over the next few years.  Ultimately, we’ve decided that we need a change that gives us more time to spend with our family.

We still have over 7,000 items on the website, and loads more to add over the next few weeks, so today we are launching our Closing Down Sale. We need to sell off all of the clothes we have in the building, so all items have been significantly reduced.

The website will stop taking orders later in the summer, so you will have a few weeks to make your last purchases from us.

We are so incredibly sorry to all of you, our extremely loyal and wonderful customers. We know this will come as a big shock. Some of you have been buying from us since the very beginning, and I know you rely on us to help top up your little ones’ wardrobes each season. If we could stay and continue to do that for you, then I promise we would.

Before we close the doors for the final time, please do go and make use of the Closing Down Sale and help us clear thousands of items over the coming weeks. Think ahead to the coming seasons, and maybe stock up with the next couple of sizes, all at greatly reduced prices, if you can.

The tears are falling as I write this, as I never wanted to be sending you all this message ☹ KKC started by accident nearly 8 years ago when I needed to clear a lot of my own kids’ clothes, and due to demand I then started buying in more clothes to sell. We grew rapidly, especially during lockdown, and have had two premises over the years, firstly, the lovely little Bissetts Garage in Winkleigh, and now The Old Pig Shed in Coldridge, which we will miss dearly.

Mr KKC and I had always had an ambition to grow the business, and try and create a one-stop shop online for the best quality preloved clothing around. In 2023 we had the amazing opportunity to take on another preloved business, Buildabundle, which we have been running for nearly 2 years as a sister company to Katie’s Kids Clothes, but alas the decline in sales for both websites has meant that we were never able to push it as far as we wanted. It’s still a fab business if you have the space to run it by yourself from home, but unfortunately that is not possible for us anymore – we don’t have the space at home.

So, what does the future hold for us? Well, we have three amazing children, who have grown up whilst we have been running these businesses, and we would love to spend some more time with them, helping them pursue their goals. They have been so understanding with Mummy & Daddy working late into the night photographing new stock, or constantly answering messages and doing social media whilst on family days out and on holiday. They have helped pack orders during busy times, and carry huge postage sacks to the post office! So, it’s time to give some more of our time back to them.

With regards to work, I am setting myself up for a new challenge! The Katie’s Kids Clothes website and social media may live on, but with a different focus and new products available. This will come in time, and once the dust settles on closing down the preloved businesses, I will certainly let you all know what I will be doing, so do keep following the page.

I’m sorry this couldn’t be a message of good news, but I hope you can understand us having to make this decision. Our Closing Down Sale is now on, with at least 25% off EVERYTHING on katieskidsclothes.com. The same sale will run on buildabundle.co.uk too (with a further 5,000+ items available on there!), so please do go and search for the sizes you need now, and in the future, and fill your baskets with some amazing bargains.

Hopefully we can give all our remaining items a new home and give Katie’s Kids Clothes and Buildabundle a happy ending.  Thank you all for your support over the years, it has meant so much to us.

Love & hugs,

Katie & Mr KKC