Grand Avenue Baby

Connecting the Dots: A Brief History of Grand Avenue Baby

Grand Avenue Baby launched in 2006 and quickly earned a reputation as a go-to resource for the best products in the mom and baby category for media, influentials (celebrities, stylists, tastemakers) and consumers.  Since the beginning, we wanted Grand Avenue Baby to provide clients a holistic approach to PR & marketing because as long-term marketers, we know that celebrity outreach and public relations must go hand-in-hand in order for a program to be successful. So while we continued to outreach under the Grand Avenue Baby name, our firm name became Grand Avenue PR to better communicate who we are and the services we provide.

 

Our commitment to taking a holistic approach deepened as we watched amazing brands struggle to translate media and celebrity exposure into sales. Companies must connect the dots between PR and Sales to achieve maximum results. To help companies achieve these results, we evolved the Grand Avenue Baby concept to be able to offer companies an innovative and integrated solution to PR, Marketing and Sales: the Grand Avenue Baby Showroom.

 

In January 2009, the Grand Avenue Baby Showroom opened in the hub of Los Angeles’ Kids business at the California Market Center.  Through our brick & mortar and online showrooms we showcase a unique, hand-picked mix of quality brands – the finest in mom and juvenile accessories, apparel and gear – to media, celebrities, retailers and consumers.  Visitors to the Web site gain access to product information as well as Grand Avenue Baby blog posts on industry trends and highlights, products, topics and expert commentary and opinions.  Visitors to the showroom have the opportunity to “touch & feel” product and see it showcased in a retail environment.

 

The Grand Avenue Baby showroom package is an ideal solution for upcoming brands in need of a PR & Marketing launch and for established companies with internal marketing and/or sales teams that need tactical support. While Grand Avenue PR provides tailored, individualized PR and Marketing services, Grand Avenue Baby is a unique and affordable option for companies who need support with Media Relations, VIP Relations, West Coast Retail Relations, or a combination of the three.

 

Are you connecting the dots?  If not, we’d love to talk to you.

Advice for the Perfect Holiday Photo: Let Kids Be Kids

We had every intention of getting our family holiday cards ordered and out early this year, but once again finding the right family photo has slowed us down. Rather than get caught up in finding the “perfect” picture, we remembered what we learned from Julie Floyd, the founder of Classic Kids Photography. 

 

Julie offers one very important piece of advice: let kids be kids.  “When a child is doing what comes naturally, the photographer, whether it’s a parent or a professional, will capture that personality on film,” she explains.  True personality is often lost in the perfectly posed holiday photo. To avoid this, Julie offers the following tips for anyone gearing up for the holiday photo shoot:

 

1. Never say “smile” or ask the children to say “cheese.” The mouth will smile, the eyes will not. You must work for your smiles by entertaining your subjects.
2. Get down to their level. The photographer needs to bring the camera down to eye level. Even lay on the floor if necessary.
3. Fill the frame with your subject. A nice close shot is far more interesting to the viewer than seeing a lot of background.
4. Leave props out of the photograph unless the object is something your child can’t live without.
5. Make the shoot fun. If your family of four kids has to sit still for the picture, be sure that you are very entertaining. Enlist help from another adult if necessary.
6. Let kids be kids.  Don’t stress about Band-aids, braces, bruises and black eyes. Imperfections are charming and make kids look real. Don’t insist that hair is perfectly styled. Natural truly is timeless.

If you have other suggestions, please leave a comment. We'd love to hear them!

 

LA's Best Kept Secret: Sample Sale Days at California Market Center

Sample Sale Fridays are generally held the last Friday of every month, but during the holidays California Market Center welcomes the public EVERY Friday.  Located at the heart of Los Angeles’ fashion district, the California Market Center is home to hundreds of wholesale showrooms for apparel, accessories, gifts and home décor. Great prices can be found in showrooms throughout the Center.  

 

Grand Avenue Baby is taking advantage of the California Market Center’s Friday Sample Sales to give consumers what they want this holiday season: deals!  The Grand Avenue Baby Showroom (Suite B601) has been transformed into a holiday boutique with great finds from Millions of Colors, Red Wagon Baby, Miatom, Sage Creek Organics, Tiny Revolution, Besitos and Namaste, Inc. Featured product includes children’s t-shirts, apparel and accessories and women’s handbags at 50-60% off retail prices. 

 

Don't miss the chance to stock up for the kids or find fabulous gifts for everyone on your list!  Sample Sales continue every Friday through December 18.  Check out the California Market Center'swebsite for showroom information, directions and parking.

 

Finding Inspiration in Housewares

If you've read InStyle, O, Elle Decor, Real Simple, Metropolitan Home (and the list goes on) in the past few months, chances are the hip housewares from Alice Supply Co. have caught your attention. The brainchild of two fashion industry executives, Alice Supply Co. came alive with help from the creative genius of Clive Piercy, the founder of design office Air Conditioned.

Clive has crafted visual identities for companies like Roxy, Ekla, Quiksilver, Fathers Office and Hillstone (Houston's, Gulfstream) and generously shared his knowledge with small business owners during an evening with SMARTY. Very quickly into Clive's presentation it became enormously clear why I find myself coveting a garden hose and tool box.

It also became clear how important it is for a company's visual personality to reflect their product or service. If you're trying to create differentiated positioning in the marketplace, ask yourself:  What is your brand spirit?  What are the adjectives used to describe your brand? And then invest in design.

Food for Thought: What Story Are You Telling?

Does Your Brand Tell a Powerful Story? - Brand Story - Entrepreneur.com

We highly recommend this article to anyone building a business. Strategic storytelling and brand guardianship are critical and why we believe PR is more important than ever before. Why?  Seth Godin explains it perfectly: "PR is the strategic crafting of your story. It's the focused examination of your interactions and tactics and products and pricing that, when combined, determine what and how people talk about you." 

PR is not just about publicity, which is exactly why as PR professionals we provide our clients a “full service” approach to building their brands. We’d love to tell you how.

 

 

 

In the Market for Gifts & Gear? Don't Miss Grand Avenue Baby at CMC During LA Market

Today's baby boutiques offer an amazing selection of gear, apparel and accessories to give busy parents  the luxury of a one-stop-shop. We believe retailers want and need the same luxury so we opened a showroom unlike any other in the heart of LA's children's business, California Market Center's Kids of 6.  Featuring gear and gifts, we're located on the 6th Floor B-side (6B) alongside fabulous brands like Charlie Rocket, Splendid, Ella Moss, Too By Doo, Hudson, Tea Bags, and many more.

We're proud to showcase amazing children's gear from Scandinavian Child, the North American distributor of Anka, Beaba, Svan, Cariboo of New Zealand, lillebaby and Micralite; statement making t-shirt line Tiny Revolutionary; playful privacy shorts line Francie Pants; and handbags and totes from Namaste, Inc.

Here are a few examples. We hope you'll stop by to see all that we have to offer!  LA Market kicks off Friday and we'll be here all weekend!

Great Design and Fabulous Giveaways: Join Bel Bambini and Oeuf at Plan A BABY

 

Style-savvy moms with an eye for design will not want to miss this! Bel Bambini and Oeuf NYC, have partnered to showcase and giveaway luxurious layette pieces and must-have baby essentials at the first-ever Plan A Baby event on Sunday, October 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Bel Bambini is giving Plan A Baby attendees a chance to win celebrity must-have products from Aden & Anais, Cloud B, Safe Sippy, Best Ever Mat and beautifully-designed, handcrafted knits from Oeuf’s Clothier Collection. To enter, guests must simply stop by the Bel Bambini and Oeuf NYC showcase at the event. Winners will be drawn and announced every hour. Oeuf NYC will showcase its practical and stylish essential Classic Crib, Dresser and bedding and offer guests a 10% discount on all Oeuf products exclusively at the event.  

Expectant parents that sign-up and start their Bel Bambini baby registry at the event will also automatically be entered in Bel Bambini’s Baby Registry Sweepstakes. Running through October, the Baby Registry Sweepstakes gives expecting parents the chance to win $250 Bel Bambini gift certificates and the complete collection of celebrity must-have products featured at Plan A Baby.

Plan A Baby is a one-day celebration of new and expecting moms. Featuring high-end products and services, expert speakers, including The Baby Planners and Dr. JJ Levenstein, a silent auction, spa treatments and fabulous gift bags, it’s a grown-up play day filled with information and indulgences. Tickets can be purchased for $35 online at www.planABABYevent.com or at the door for $45. Or stop by Bel Bambini this week. The first 20 people to come into the store and mention Plan A Baby will receive a free ticket to the event!

Expectant moms don’t miss this opportunity to see many of the finest names in baby under one very chic roof. Grand Avenue Baby will be there. We hope you will too!

 

Stop Dreading "I Want to Help" and Help Your Toddler Become a Partner

“I want to help.” Hopefully I’m not the only parent that cringes when I hear these four simple words. Any parent who has ever tried to make dinner, bake cookies or wash the dishes with the “help” of a young child teetering precariously on a step stool must dread hearing these four words. The problem is, saying “no” may seem like the safest reply, but it’s not the best for your child’s long-term development.

Carol Gamble, a mom with more than 16 years of experience in the Montessori system, offers parents a solution: The Learning Tower. The only step stool on the market carefully designed to meet the specific needs of toddlers 18 months and up, The Learning Tower is a sturdy, non-tip structure that allows children to safely participate by raising them to countertop height where they learn by mirroring their parents and develop their sense of self by contributing as an active member of the family.

A perfect tool for kids in the kitchen, The Learning Tower’s unique accessories, the Art Easel and Playhouse Kit, expand children’s use of the Tower and sparks their imaginations. Little Partners is giving away an Ebony Tower in time for Halloween cookie decorating! Become a fan of The Learning Tower and post a Halloween picture of your little one for the chance to win. Visit http://www.facebook.com/LearningTower to enter.

 

ONEHOPE - an easy way to make a difference

We met the founder of ONEHOPE at the Social Luxe Lounge during BlogHer last summer and have wanted to blog about them since. With the crazy months of summer vacations, Back to School and the ABC Kids Show behind us, the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month eems like the perfect time.

ONEHOPE developed from an epiphany of young Jake Kloberdanz. While stocking shelves as a wine distributor in 2005 he thought to himself, "specialty items used to raise awareness and proceeds for causes enjoy preferential treatment, more prominent placement on shelves, and consequently moved off those shelves much faster than other products. Why not create a brand of wine that can benefit from this treatment?" His cause related marketing epiphany quickly turned personal though when six months later his good friend was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the age of 23.

Jake and several friends launched ONEHOPE in April 2006 with a mission to give people an easy way to make a difference and keep causes in front of people year round. ONEHOPE donates a whopping 50% of their profits to organizations that support their causes: breast cancer research, austism awareness, the fight against AIDS, military families, and global warming.

More than just a great story, ONEHOPE offers award-winning wines that are now widely available - making it easy fo all of us to help make a difference.

LA Retailers, Don't Miss Super Market Tuesday

We're thrilled the California Market Center reintroduced Super Market Tuesdays this year. Designed as mini markets, Super Market Tuesday is a perfect time to buy fill-in inventory, scoop up great deals, attend informative seminars and get FREE parking. 

Grand Avenue Baby is hosting a continental breakfast in our showroom (B601) from 9-11 a.m. tomorrow. Please join us for goodies and check out the deals from Francie Pants, Scandinavian Child, Sweet Shoes and Tiny Revolutionary: 

Francie Pants | Children/Baby apparel | no minimum for opening orders

Scandinavian Child | Children/Baby gear | ¹buy a Micralite Toro Stroller-receive a FREE Lillebaby product and ²Special Market Tuesday Starter Package

Sweet Shoes |Infant Shoes | order 15 pairs and get one FREE

Tiny Revolutionary | Children/Baby tees | offering no minimums for opening orders

Can't get in for market: call 213.627.1230 or email us sales@grandavenuebaby.com to place your order!