The Biz: Feature Articles

If you’ve ever been in a clutch to easily and cleanly change a baby in a public restroom you know it can be a mess in more ways than one! Time to get your clutches on the LillyBit Uptown Diaper Clutch! Lyssa Surface takes us behind her brand to reveal how a self-proclaimed “start-up” company goes from “I-wish-I had” to “have to have it!” She discovered a need. Found a solution. Then went to work on making her business dream a practical reality. Here’s some inspiration for all the entrepreneurs working toward bringing “the next best thing” to the children’s market. Sometimes, it just takes a mom!

Happy 31st Anniversary to le top!

The people behind le top are highly respected, admired, and looked up to in the children’s industry as an example of so much that is great about the children’s business. Co-owner Chris Lun shares the birth, growing pains, challenges and triumphs of le top’s history. Chris always talks about the le top employees, and their retail customers, as “family.” Here’s a behind-the-brand look at this family’s success.

A growing concern for many parents and caregivers are the chemicals, such as BPA, that are found in many plastic children’s products. Such chemicals have been found to leech out of the plastics and cause a wide range of health problems when children are exposed to them over long periods of time. In response, there is a fast growing market of new products offering safe alternatives to plastics.

New products, many designed by concerned parents, are being produced to meet a growing demand. The Green Scene presents three companies that make safer new products for both children and our world: Silikids, Kid Konseve and SIGG.

Retail Reality celebrates Baby Frenzy, a family-owned retail store in El Toro, Californiam run by Linda and Michal Byerline. The store is the public side of a cloth diapering manufacturer, Happy Heineys, that operates an upstairs manufacturing facility. The combination retailer/supplier educates local parents about the environmental and financial benefits of cloth diapering and other natural parenting methods, and the products available today that help save green in both the pocketbook and the environment! A growing trend has emerged where manufacturers of all sizes are exploring the options of retailing and wholesaling. We were happy to discover Baby Frenzy and Happy Heineys! Who do you know that combines both worlds successfully?