Grand Avenue Baby

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.