Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Rutherford.
Hi Lindsay, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The shop “loop-de-loo’s” came from a casual conversation with my mom and sister about hypothetical, fun business ideas. At the end of last summer, I was starting to think about returning to work as an RN after being home with my kids for the previous 6 years. They’ve all reached elementary age now (one in first grade and two in TK), but going back to working long night shifts still didn’t quite work with our family dynamics. One of our brainstorming ideas was opening a kids resale shop here in Point Loma. We’ve always loved shopping at “Junebug” in Solana Beach for our own families- it’s such a cute, fun, welcoming, and community loved space and we thought, our neighborhood could use one of these! The idea slowly grew and evolved; I casually kept an eye out for potential spaces to lease, did my fair share of google searches on how to start/run a small business, did some networking with the owner of Junebug, and one thing kept leading to another! We opened for business on March 2, 2026, and have been learning as we go and having a lot of fun along the way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Overall, I would say it’s been a mostly smooth road, with thanks to lots of help from family & friends. My underlying feeling throughout this whole start up process has been that if it’s meant to be, things will keep moving forward and the signs will point to “keep going”. Before really committing to the idea, I starting working on a business plan to get my thoughts and ideas organized, and to really make sure it was an idea worth personally pursuing. I spent a lot of time talking with our friends and family members and rolled ideas around. I checked online each week to see if there were any spaces for lease in areas I could both afford and envision the shop. Towards the end of 2025, I found the space we’re in now and decided to really commit to the idea. Fortunately, our family and networks of friends have a lot of collective entrepreneurial experience, design experience. and various skillsets that allowed us to transform the space into what it is now. It would have been a far more challenging start up had we needed to outsource!
As you know, we’re big fans of loop-de-loo’s. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
loop-de-loo’s is a second hand, children’s resale shop located in Point Loma and bordering Ocean Beach. We carry children’s clothing, sizes newborn through 12/14, as well as shoes, books, toys, baby gear, and more. Our inventory changes daily as we buy/trade gently used items from the families in our community. Our goal is to lessen the impact of the consumption and demand of the clothing industry by giving high quality kids items a second (or third or fourth…) life- keeping them in the loop!
What does success mean to you?
I would define success as finding the space where hard work & sacrifice intersect with a state of happiness, contentment and gratitude. Staying motivated to keep learning, growing and evolving, while also acknowledging and being thankful for where you are in the present moment.
Pricing:
- Most items in our shop are priced between 30-40% of retail value, with variations due to quality of each individual item.
- If you’d like to sell items to us, we pay out right at 25% of the resale value.
- If you’d like to trade items with us for a store credit, we credit you 40% of resale value.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.loopdeloos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herewegoloopdeloo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587060341803
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/loop-de-loos-san-diego
