Black Wagon: The Destination for Outfitting Hip Babies & Toddlers

We love Black Wagon for hip kids’ clothes (www.blackwagon.com). Clever Parents caught up with Sarah Shaoul, owner of Black Wagon to talk about clothes, lust at first sight, babies, celebrities and style.

A native of Kansas, Sarah Shaoul spent the summer before her college graduation in Portland, Oregon and fell in love with it… all except for its lack of shopping venues. So with English degree in tow, Sarah packed up and headed northwest to open a buy, sell, trade clothing store and ‘fill a much needed niche in Portland.’

Her store, Retread Threads was a very hip spot and quickly evolved from strictly a vintage and buy/sell/trade store to a destination for new items by local independent designers to the only place to buy Paul Frank, limited edition Vans and collections from small independent designers from around the world. Her boutique became a destination for trend setters and a regular stop for musicians on tour and actors, too. Most notable: The Red Stripes, Sonic Youth, Elliot Smith, The Dandy Warhols, Sleater Kinney, Winona Ryder and Benicio Del Toro. MTV even filmed an episode of Road Rules at Retread Threads.

The most important person Sarah met through Retread Threads (which grew into two stores) was her husband, Tim Cook, who came to the shop per the suggestion of his band leader (he was a key board player in a hip hop band at the time) so she could set him up with some proper attire for the stage. ‘It was truly lust at first site,’ says Sarah. ‘Love quickly followed.’

In May of 2004, Sarah gave birth to her son, Oliver. ‘As soon as I had my son I found that there was no one great place to find clothing for babies and children - especially boys - that reflects a new generation of savvy and hip parents and their children,’ says Sarah, 38. ‘I took Oliver (then 3 months old) to a trade show in Las Vegas and spent the entire time shopping for hip, cool and independent children’s collections.’

Shortly after Black Wagon came to be. Ready for a new adventure and looking for something that would allow more time to spend with her baby, Sarah launched Black Wagon from Retread Threads and last spring parted the store to put all her energies into Black Wagon and her son.

‘I really love running an on-line store and the freedom to spend more time with my family. It’s still a lot of work, but I learned so much with my first two stores that somehow it was easier. There is so much excitement and enthusiasm with new projects, too!’ As for new projects, Sarah is currently in the process of signing a lease on Black Wagon’s flagship store that she hopes to open sometime this spring. The building is being remodeled so it could be as early as April, as late as June.

When Sarah’s not busy running a business and raising a family, what does she like to do? ‘Going out to dinner with my husband, a glass of wine with my fabulous group of girlfriends and any outdoor activity, walking, biking, skiing.’ She adds (not surprisingly), ‘I do love to shop, too!’

Be sure to visit www.blackwagon.com for great children’s fashion finds.