For Janet Kim, starting her online store Wild Little Heart was intended to fill a void she saw in children’s clothes. She noticed a style she found in South Korea wasn’t as available in the area.
“After having children, we really wanted to share what we found because we couldn’t find anything like that here in New York,” Kim said in an interview. “We really just wanted to get the word out and see how people reacted to it.”
Kim and her co-founder, Anna Yang, opened their first brick and mortar storefront about three weeks ago on Old Northern Boulevard in Roslyn. The store offers children’s clothing from infancy to 6 years old, with plans to expand up to age 8. The options are primarily based on South Korean-inspired clothing that Kim says is high quality with a lot of “earthy” tones and minimalist designs.
“Most of our clothing is from South Korea, with the exception of a few brands,” Kim said. “We tend to carry things that are a bit looser and oversized because it’s more comfortable for the babies.”
The reaction has been amazing from the local community, Kim said. The Plainview resident has already seen repeat customers and wants to host events such as yoga for mothers or crafts for children in hopes of further engaging with the community.
“What really drove us to Roslyn was that it had such a great family-oriented vibe and we found so many young families walking around on the weekends,” Kim said. “We just really loved the community when looking at areas.”
During COVID-19, Kim said she is grateful the store was only operating online and said that made it a lot easier to deal with. Because of the clothing’s similarities to loungewear, which is designed for leisure, business slightly improved during quarantine because the products are made to be comfortable in, which people gravitated toward last year.
Nearly a month in, Kim is excited to get over the jitters that come with opening a new store. She said it is exciting to give people options they’ve never had before when looking for children’s clothes.
“We were very nervous when we opened because we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Kim said. “We’ve had a good reaction from people in the area and surrounding business owners. It’s very exciting establishing ourselves and having people come in to discover different styles.”
Wild Little Heart is located at 1388 Old Northern Blvd. in Roslyn. Their hours of operation are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
