By David Goerg

REXBURG—Copper Quist is a busy man these days.

Quist and his wife Anna own and operate Baby Swag, a clothing store for newborns and infants, located at 12 College Ave. in Rexburg. They buy and sell children’s clothing in all sizes and are currently selling up to size 4T. They will offer all children’s sizes for sale once renovations to the store are complete, in about a month.

Quist has started businesses before. He started a phone repair company while he was attending Ensign College (formally known as the LDS Business College), in Utah, which grew to be a multi-state company.

 Quist and his family eventually moved to Rexburg.

“When my wife and I moved here, we had a one-year-old at the time,” Quist says. “There were no clothing shops in town for Rexburg. That was kind of confusing to us because there are so many young couples with kids. And so we decided that we needed to do something about that.”

As Quist was looking to start his own baby clothing endeavor, he noticed a storefront in downtown Rexburg called “Baby Swag.” Instead of starting a new storefront to compete with Baby Swag for the Rexburg market, Quist decided to flex his entrepreneurial muscles and seek for a merger with the version of Baby Swag that was already in existence.

The merger worked, and Quist acquired the storefront along with its name.

BUYBACK

Baby Swag is a buyback business, meaning that people can sell articles of gently used baby and children’s clothing to the store, in addition to purchasing clothing from the shelves.

For new parents on college students’ budgets, Baby Swag provides great options and the constant potential to upgrade their baby’s swag.

“At this point our biggest hurdle is just letting people know that we exist,” Quist says. “We have a discount clothing program, and we do buybacks. It’s very affordable. We’re really picky about the clothes, so it’s not like the thrift store shopping where you get items people don’t want.”

The Quists are focused on growth and expansion.

“We’re trying to expand our repertoire so that we have other items like play mats, swings, and  strollers,” Quist says. “When those things come in, we will sell those as well. But right now, it’s just a gradual process getting off the ground.”

COMMUNITY INTEGRATION

Quist is also using Baby Swag to accomplish goals in community integration. 

“I want to bring people together,” he says. “Rexburg is such a unique hotspot for all kinds of things, but as a city with the constant change from students, we don’t always get to experience that.”

Baby Swag is connected with several local philanthropies that help the less fortunate and those in poverty.

“Sometimes organizations for desperate families don’t have anywhere to go.” Quist says.  “We’re in a position where we can help them. We work with the Family Crisis Center, we’re working with Madison Cares. We’re working with WIC and several other organizations trying to develop a support program for them. When they have families that are struggling, I have gift vouchers that provide large discounts on their purchases. We’re trying to be more involved in the community. We want to help the people who need it.”

Now that COVID-19 restrictions have lifted significantly and businesses are open again, Quist is hoping that more parents will use Baby Swag as a resource for their growing families. 

Baby Swag is conveniently located within walking distance from the campus of Brigham Young University-Idaho.

HOLIDAY SPECIALS 

“We’re going to wait until just after Halloween and we’ll release all of our Christmas themed stuff,” Quist says. “And we do have Christmas items, so it’ll be good.”

Baby Swag is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. For questions about consignments or clothing options, call  (208) 271-9997 . Baby Swag can also be found on Facebook and Instagram. 

See rexburgcommons.com for more local news and events. And check out our community calendar here.