Little clothes in store

Alicia Robinson

It’s not often that all the children in one family can wear the same

piece of clothing before it falls apart, but that’s what Swedish

children’s clothier Hanna Andersson wants to offer customers.

The company began in 1983 as a catalog-only business, but now has

about a dozen retail stores, of which a Fashion Island location is

newest.

The store opened April 19 and held a grand opening celebration on

Saturday, with a special appearance by company founder Gun Denhart.

Twenty percent of the day’s sales were donated to Orangewood

Children’s Home.

The bright, airy store is designed to be inviting to shoppers,

with clothes in fun, punchy colors and a low table with toy trains so

kids can play while their parents shop.

Because the store is small, there’s no room for the adult clothing

lines that can be ordered through the catalog. But there are plenty

of dresses, shirts, shorts and sweatsuits in soft cottons for girls

and boys.

Many of the clothes are made with organic cotton and use natural

dyes, store manager Lori McCauslin said. The clothes are designed to

be comfortable and durable.

A native of Sweden, Denhart started Hanna Andersson as a catalog

business because she couldn’t find quality children’s clothes made

from natural fibers in America. She wanted her son to have soft,

bright clothes like the ones she remembered from her childhood, she

said.

“It just turned out that he wasn’t the only one that liked those

clothes,” Denhart said. “A lot of other people did too.”

Donations from Saturday’s event aren’t a one-time thing. The

company’s social conscience evolved as its sales grew, and in 2001

the Hanna Andersson Children’s Foundation was formed.

What started as a marketing idea -- having customers return used

clothes in good condition if they didn’t have children to hand them

down to -- became a program to donate the gently used clothes to the

needy, Denhart said.

“We thought that would be a good way to convey that the clothes

were good and they could last for more than one baby,” Denhart said.

Now the company donates 5% of its profits to charities, and

employees get paid time off to do volunteer work.

And the corporate structure is open, so even employees lower on

the totem pole could call the company president if they wanted,

McCauslin said.

“I’ve worked for a lot of big, big companies,” she said. “Being

here is so much more like a family.”

Hanna Andersson is at 279 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.