Local Business Owners Bring “Once Upon a Child” Franchise to Fairfield

Verona’s Schmidt family, owners of Funtime Junction and Dynamite Falls, are doing it again — this time stocking up and preparing to launch their third business venture in Fairfield.

“Once Upon a Child,” co-owned by Erin Schmidt and her mother Kim Schmidt is a national franchise that buys and sells gently used and new children's clothes, toys, books and equipment.

Located at 137 Route 46 West, “Once Upon a Child” only opened their doors recently and has already had an overwhelming response from parents looking to sell their children's outgrown items.

So much, in fact, they have just about fully stocked the 5,000 square-foot building with children's clothes, strollers, potties, books and even playhouses.

“People are bringing in tons of really unique things in very large quantities,” said Erin Schmidt.

They have been strictly buying items in order to stock the store and expect to be fully open to buy and sell within the next month, she said.

“We've had a huge response,” said Kim Schmidt. “Way bigger than we anticipated and we are just trying to manage the growth.”

The Fairfield location is the first of the franchise to open in Northern New Jersey and has drawn parents from as far as Pennsylvania, they added.

Erin first saw “Once Upon a Child” while shopping for her son Andrew in South Carolina.

“We shopped there and bought a lot of different things for him and thought this was great idea,” she said. “You can pick up some really high-end brands and high-quality goods for really inexpensive prices. We thought there was a real need for that in this area.” 

Parents can unload some of their outgrown items and get cash on the spot while also shopping for some new items for their children. Each item is checked for condition, quality and brand. They research each product for recalls and safety records before accepting a purchase, said Kim Schmidt.

“We are stocking some brand name merchandise for great prices. If you are wishing to sell your things, its very environmental and green,” said Erin Schmidt. “Rather than putting it on the curb to fill a landfill, you can bring it in and get cash on the spot.”

The store hopes to have enough items on the floor and on back-stock in order to fully open to customers soon. In the meantime, customers are getting very anxious to be the first to purchase specific items. 

“We heard people will line up the night before, but we don't know if that will really happen,” said Erin.

For more information visit onceuponachildfairfield.com.