Feature Articles: Retail Reality

East Meets East at Japanese BIT’Z KIDS NYC

By The Giggle Guide

BIT’Z KIDS is a Japanese clothing line with its own retail operations. The parent company, F.O. International Co., Ltd. was founded in Kobe, Japan in 1998, and is the largest children’s clothing company in Japan, with 140 stores nationwide, 40 in China, and over 1,300 wholesale distributions. BIT’Z KIDS offers the highest quality clothes and service at reasonable prices, providing its customers with “total fashion” - comfy, functional clothing that keeps up with growing kids. Here’s a look at how BIT’Z KIDS entered the US market with its first store in NYC.

Retail Reality

Once upon a time is a Successful Retail Tale

By The Giggle Guide

Linda Flaherty and her daughter Sarah Bailey are co-owners of the exceptional Once upon a time children’s specialty shops in Birmingham, Alabama. Blessed with personalities that are brimming in Southern hospitality and charm, this grandmother and mother duo now operate two very successful retail locations. With fourteen years in the business, the pair have developed a sensibility and keen eye to what customers crave. They offer an elegant selection of traditional, timeless children’s products, along with the latest mix of popular fashion trends and stylings in nursery decor.

Retail Reality

I Am the Princess Gives the Royal Treatment

By The Giggle Guide

Karen Herbs believes, “In the heart of every girl is a princess in all her royal splendor!” She has turned her belief into a retail fantasy showplace and online royal marketplace for little girls that dream of sparkling tiaras, fairy tale kingdoms, and magical, wonderful adventures! Karen’s love of all things twirly, girly, pink and princessy adorns her royally demonstrative store name, I Am the Princess, That’s Why! With hard work and dedication, and maybe just a touch of pixie dust, Karen shares her “magic” formula for retail success.

Retail Reality

Closic's Makes Customers Feel at Home

By The Giggle Guide

Opened in 1971, Closic’s Baby & Teen has grown to become the largest children’s furniture and accessories retailer in Delaware Valley. The two-story, 14,000 square-foot showplace prides itself in making new and growing families feel at home. The first floor is dedicated to infants and the nursery, while the second floor is geared toward children and young adults. Zora Sawyer shares how she “grew” into owning and managing Closic’s and how being a good listener has helped her satisfy customers with children, from crib to college.

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Retail Reality

Gifted Imaginations Celebrates Kids at Play

By The Giggle Guide

“You have a gifted imagination,” is a praise-worthy complement that young children used to hear a lot from teachers and parents. Before the current home computer, video gaming, and iPod revolution, generations of kids were inspired by dawn-to-dusk outdoor neighborhood adventures and creative play with blocks, models, “army” men, tea parties, crafts and board games. Enthusiastic about these “good ole’ days” of playtime powered by active imaginations, Lisa Pearce and Wendy Scarbrough, both kids at heart, opened their Gifted Imaginations store last year. The store is a kid’s dream playroom filled with traditional wooden toys, puzzles, games and more.

Retail Reality

PsychoBaby Store Celebrates 7th Anniversary

By The Giggle Guide

Congratulations to Marlo Hoffman and Lisa Starbuck, co-founders of PsychoBaby in Chicago that celebrated its seventh anniversary earlier this May! This one-of-a-kinda-crazy brick and mortar kids’ store also now counts the Internet as its worldwide territory. The store is fun, funky, wild, original and a celebration of all things that are hipper, cooler, trendier, edgier and as unique as children’s individual personalities and creative outlooks.

Retail Reality

Lucky Puppy’s Business is Going to the Dogs’ Lovers

By The Giggle Guide

Friends and fellow dog lovers Sandi Hochman and Jonathan Cathey got together to form Lucky Puppy to celebrate the love people have for “man’s best friend” by offering apparel for kids and folks who believe, like Charlie Brown, that happiness is a warm puppy. The “dog”-tag line for Lucky Puppy says it all — “Nothing But Cute.” Sandi Hochman shares with The Giggle Guide^® her inspiration to start the lifestyle store that has become a well-known brand. Lucky Puppy is a fitting name, as the company actively helps to find new families for homeless dogs.

Retail Reality

Milk Money is for the Child that Deserves More!

By The Giggle Guide

According to Milk Money Boutique’s store owner, Rita Thomas, her children’s specialty store in North Carolina is “for the child who has everything but deserves more. At Milk Money, every day is a special occasion.” Rita shares how she went from marketing for the federal government to marketing her own store and its assorted collections of quality apparel and gifts for boys and girls. Inspired by a move to North Carolina, her own sense of style and how she wanted to dress her son, Rita is successfully showing everyone that a little “milk money” can go a long way in making children and moms feel special.

Retail Reality

jillybean green Grows Eco-Conscious Business

By The Giggle Guide

Jill Sundahl is a Los Angeles mother of two young hip kids who share her interest in helping the environment. Recently, Jill decided to put her money where her carbon footprint was, and opened an online and brick-and-mortar environmental specialty store in Studio City, California. Although still a little sprout, her jillybean green store is quickly growing up vibrant and strong. Here, Jilly shares with The Giggle Guide^® how “going green” in retailing can lead to healthy, thriving profits!