Coast Kids co-owner Morgan Clark with the colourful display set to become a fixture of Illawarra summers. Photos: Coast Kids.
Standing at just 165 centimetres tall, with a tiny engine less powerful than some e-bikes and retro round headlights, a brightly-painted 1995 Suzuki Carry is turning heads across Wollongong.
It lived its first life in a coastal town in Japan, but today, this imported “Kei truck” is the pint-sized mobile pop-up shop for Coast Kids — a Woonona-born brand that has taken the international wholesale market by storm and is finally introducing itself to its home crowd.
Kids have been using Coast Kids’ eco-friendly toys and accessories in nine countries across the globe. Now, as its home coastal region gears up for warm weather, the colourful Kei truck stocked with Coast Kids hats, kites, towels and packable beach toys is set to hit markets, community events and suitable beachside pop-up locations for summer.
Co-founders and sisters, Morgan Clark and Mallory Faleono, call it the answer to a dilemma parents know all too well.
“You’ve packed everything but the kitchen sink, then realised the kids’ hats, towels or toys are still at home,” Morgan says. “We’ve packed an entire beach shop into one tiny truck, so we can pull up where families are spending their day and open up for business.”
But we’re not talking a run-of-the-mill plastic fantastic bucket and spade.
The brand took Silver in the Kids Accessories category of the 2025 Clean + Conscious Awards.
The Coast Kids range includes hats made using offcuts from large manufacturers that would otherwise end up in landfill, kites made from recycled plastic bottles, beach towels and “packable toys”.
The Coast Kids “Kei truck” before it became the Coast Kids truck and (inset) inside the mobile shopfront. Photos: Coast Kids.
Squishability is a defining feature.
“When I travelled overseas for the first time with my son when he was one, we didn’t take anything like that because it’s too hard to try and fit stiff toys into suitcases and bags,” Morgan says.
“We bought stuff when we were away, but then we had the same dilemma trying to bring it home, so we were spending money on things we had to leave behind. I figured we can’t be the only people who want toys they can chuck into a suitcase that doesn’t weigh a lot or take up too much space.
“Our castle-shaped silicone buckets can fold or squish into your baggage, and they will always come back to their shape.”
Longer term, the vision is for the Coast Kids Kei truck to become a recognisable feature of the Illawarra coastline in the warm months.
“It looks a little ridiculous, but unless you’re 6-ft tall, it’s super fun to drive — and it’s already bringing a lot of joy when people see us driving about,” Morgan says. “Coast Kids started here in the Illawarra, so it feels right to bring the brand out of boxes and websites and into our local beach communities. We’re excited.”
Coast Kids will have exclusive merch and discounts for people who shop at the Kei truck, and offers free delivery to Wollongong postcodes for online orders.
To discover where the Coast Kids Kei truck is popping up next, visit Instagram.
