Grand Avenue Baby

Style & Function for Busy Moms on the Go: líllébaby Oslo Diaper Bag

Katherine Heigl was spotted carrying the líllébaby Oslo Diaper Bag on Halloween. The red bag added a great pop of color to her outfit, but we’re sure the color wasn’t the only reason the Oslo Bag was her go-to diaper bag for Halloween festivities with Naleigh. The líllébaby Oslo diaper bag is the perfect bag for busy moms on the go!

Slim and lightweight it’s also roomy with multiple pockets to keep items well organized.  Everything from diapers and wipes to keys, camera and cell phone are within easy reach.  The bag can be carried over the shoulder, across the chest, as a backpack and even on a stroller with the convenient, built-in stroller clips.

The Oslo’s cushioned changing pad takes diaper pads to a new level with a removable terry cloth liner for easy washing and tabs that allow parents to have a diaper ready to go. Two hidden pockets under the front flap allow easy access to tissues and wipes. A magnetic top closure keeps the bag’s contents secure while making access quick and easy as well as silent (Velcro can be a challenge to open quietly).

The Oslo diaper bag retails for $75 and is available in four colors, Black, Brown, Grey and Red. For more information or to purchase the líllébaby Oslo diaper bag, please visit www.scichild.com.

Want to learn more?  Visit Coffee with the Mrs. and check out Amy’s very thorough review of the Oslo.

We've Been Busy: A Peek at Our Newest Lines

2010 is off to an exciting start. We're thrilled to be a part of the launch of three fabulous children's apparel lines - Petit Couture, Skylar Clothing and Tiny Pants!  We just returned from Children's Club and are getting ready for the lines to launch in LA this week. See the lines in person in Los Angeles in the California Market Center - Kids on 6 - Suite B601.

 

Here's a peek!  

Petit Couture is a socially-minded, premium children's line that fuses modern sophistication with artisan and whimsical styling for the fashion-conscious mom and her kids.  The signature Petit Couture designs feature sophisticated color choices, details and embellishments. Each piece in the debut collection features Petit Couture’s signature owl motif and gold metallic, rhinestones or glitter details and is proudly produced in the USA.

 

Inspired by Wen Reese's two sons, Jackson and Mac, Skylar Clothing is designed for boys' quiet sides. "Boys have a sensitive side that often gets overlooked," Wen explains, "I wanted to create a line that gives them an alternative to robots, rocket ships and race cars."

Featuring a variety of eco-friendly fabrics, Skylar celebrates children’s natural ability to be present in the moment – whether they are digging in the dirt, climbing trees or racing cars.  And because children are always moving, Skylar playwear is simple, comfortable and designed to let the kids – not their clothes- be the star of the show.

 

 

Tiny Pants proves that “style comes tiny too” with its debut collection for girls ages 2-14.  Created for mini stylistas in training, Tiny Pants offers runway inspired pieces designed especially for girls and not just shrunken down versions of women’s apparel. Tiny Pants launches for Fall 2010 with a range of fashion-forward pieces in a candy-colored palette of fuchsia, green, purple, navy and chocolate. The line's clear raincoat was the talk of the show at ENK's Children's Club!

Celebrating the Year of the Tiger

The Year of the Tiger begins February 14, 2010, but why wait to celebrate?  The Tiger is said to be lucky, vivid, lively, engaging and brave. In celebration of the Year of the Tiger, we wish our clients, colleagues and friends the very best for 2010 and hope everyone finds their “inner tiger” to face the New Year with courage and optimism. 

We certainly faced our own challenges last year, but we did our best to see the opportunities that arose from the challenges.  We cheered our Kids on 6 colleagues as we all came together to collectively market the kids business on the West Coast and make buying trips enjoyable for retailers.  We embraced social media – learning everyday how to make the most of this new tool for our clients’ and our own businesses.   And we looked closely at how we do business to make sure that we continued to offer our clients tremendous value.  As Earnshaw’s Editor in Chief Caletha Crawford nicely put it in January’s issue, “…the principles we learned from the toughest days of 2009 will serve us all well whether recovery is right around the corner or far off in the distance.”   We may not be sad to turn the page on 2009, but we certainly wouldn’t trade the lessons we learned.

Here’s to a year of great courage, creativity and optimism!

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.

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!

 

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!

New Editions @ The Brentwood Country Mart

SMARTY LA introduced us to New Editions at its recent "Mother of Invention" evening inside New Editions' Pop Up store at the Brentwood Country Mart. As soon as we walked in we were drawn to the art on the walls. The prints captured our attention in a way that typical children's art doesn't, which is precisely New Editions’ mission.

New Editions’ founders believe art serves as our playmate and our teacher. Art is joyous and challenging, reminding us of the wonders and complexities of the world (just like our children) and therefore the two should hang out together from an early age. So they help create "art from the start" by commissioning contemporary artists to create prints that contain the things young children are drawn to - strong contrast, bright color, and simple forms - yet are sophisticated enough for their parents.

                  New Editions then editions each print (in house) in Los Angeles in runs of 100, 60 or 30. The result is a collection that is both engaging and accessible (prints range from $90-$375). For a complete look, check out the New Editions’ online gallery.

Tori Spelling Celebrates "Mommywood" Book Launch

Tori Spelling's new book Mommywood hits book stores today.  Grand Avenue Baby attended her book party celebration last night at The Thompson Hotel rooftop in Beverly Hills.  Tori looked great in a Kelly green dress - a color that carried over into the party decor.  Event planner Jo Gartin did another beautiful job for Tori.   The party had a zen-like modern feel with bold green plants and fruit and candles set against warm chocolate furniture.  They served two great cocktails made with TY KU – appropriately named the Mommywood Mojito and Tori-tini.  The bartender was kind enough to provide us the recipes below.  Enjoy!

Mommywood Mojito

1.5 oz berries (raspberries & blueberries), 2 oz. TY KU Liqueur, aplash citrus soda (sprite zero), squeeze of lime mint

Tori-tini

Equal Parts: TY KU Sake, TY KU Liquor, Splash of Fresh Lime