The Biz: The Grapevine

Difrax Pacifiers Satisfy Growth Stages

By Mari Gold

Since every baby is unique with his or her own special shape, look and needs, it makes sense to select just the right pacifier rather than a one-for-all type. Show shoppers the clever designs from Difrax, a three-stage pacifier system that caters to the needs a child’s developmental stages. Difrax pacifiers have an underlying concept: a butterfly shape proven to prevent baby’s nose from being obstructed. A trusted European brand, Difrax has won numerous awards for superior baby products, designed to make the first few years of a child’s life as comfortable as possible while offering superior parental convenience.

The Grapevine

Melopima is Oh! So Soft

By Stephanie Hanlon

When they feel how soft it is, Pima cotton will definitely be the fabric of your customers’ lives. During a trip to Peru, designer Elia Gressin-Zapata realized how amazing Pima cotton was and wanted to share it with her friends in France, so she created Melopima. Grown, harvested and sorted by hand by small producers in northen Peru, Pima cotton is so rare and silky it’s called “Silk of South America” and Elia made it a point to have production in Lima, Peru. The cotton is free of chemicals and GMOs and is used by leading brands across the world because of its soothing texture and purity.

The Grapevine

Portable Plushies from Ponytail Pals

By Kelly Lee

Tickle-Me Elmo. Beanie Babies. Cabbage Patch Kids. These toys are not just guides on a walk down a retailer’s memory lane. They were all stellar sellers. The common thread? They were all cute fads. While trends come and go, cuteness is always popular. No toy section is complete without a standard grouping of plush creatures, and for a good reason: kids will always love stuffed animals and gift givers always feel safe about buying them. This is because stuffed toys cross age boundaries and generations, tugging at the heart. Lisa Moy’s Ponytail Pals are filling the need for on-the-go snuggles with wearable stuffed animals.

The Grapevine

7Zetoiles Offers Warmth and Style

By Carolyn Kavarnos

Julie Veille spent a lot of time with her grandmother growing up, and while that may conjure up visions of cookie baking and more traditional activities, Julie’s grandmother was a fashion designer. Taught to sketch by her grandmother, Julie developed a love of fashion at a very young age and eventually founded 7Zetoiles. At the core of Julie’s collection you will find originality and quality. Her vision is to dress children in beautiful, original and comfortable clothes that are ideal for city life but very adaptable to extreme, cold climates thanks to the use of sophisticated materials and fabrics.

The Grapevine

Pick a Peck of Pick Your Pockets Organizers

By Stephanie Hanlon

Want to let your customers “pick your pockets”” with creativity, not larceny? So many parents like to have a cutely customized nursery nowadays, and you can add to the décor options with little effort and lots of oomph with Pick Your Pockets organizers. Pick Your Pockets provides unique, fun products that can be used in any part of the home, office, college dorm, baby nursery, or child’s room. These organizers can be used forever! Start with diaper organizers; move them and they become book holders or closet organizers as the child ages. The tween phase will be cool when kids use the organizers for video games or jewelry.

The Grapevine

Families are Strong Together and Hip Together

By Kelly Lee

When you’re young, you are vaguely aware of the strong influences binding your family together. When you get older, you understand the vital role each family member plays. As the definitions of family change and evolve in modern society, the ties that bind families together remain strong. What family wouldn’t want to boast about its bonds? Companies like Hip Together are filling a need to promote the love and strength that exists in the bonds of family relationships.

The Grapevine

Lullaby and Good Ketiketa

By Amy Barnes

Imagine for a moment a village in Nepal with lullabies lilting in the background, crooned by mothers to their children. Clothing is loose and constructed of exotic prints that evoke a far away culture. Inspiration for children’s clothing can come in many forms. In the case of Ketiketa, a traditional Nepalese fabric was the jumping off point. Starting with “dumbar kumara”, the designers of Ketiketa turned their love of this block printed fabric into a collection of clothes and decorative accessories for boys and girls under 10. Even the label’s name has Nepalese roots with the combined “keti” (girl) and “keta” (boy) making up its presentation.

The Grapevine

Bottle Pets Fuse Feeding with Fun

By Kelly Lee

When it comes to design, most infant and toddler bottles tend more towards the utilitarian. They may consist of a clear, smooth plastic cylinder or be constructed of a lightweight glass, but a bottle is usually a bottle. And while there is nothing wrong with getting the job done, why not make mealtimes a little more enjoyable? Bottle Pets, developed by two mompreneurs who wanted to make feeding time a fun time, bring together two things that babies really like: milk and toys. They also bring together what families crave: convenience and peace of mind.

The Grapevine

Security Products from American Blanket Company

By Carolyn Kavarnos

American Blanket Company is proud of what it produces and uses only the highest quality products and finest materials in the makings of its bedding blankets, throw blankets, baby blankets and gift blankets. American Blanket Company’s Basic Baby Blanket line provides little ones with the warmth, security and comfort they need, while creating a lifetime of memories of reading just one more story or singing one more lullaby wrapped up in plush, luxuriously soft, easy care fabrics that are guaranteed for life. The new Hand-Stitched Collection contains baby blankets and quilts individually hand-stitched in the U.S.A.