We got published in Toys for Kids a new hard cover book by released by Tectum. The butternut Kustom edition Roddler that is pictured is also sporting the new Traditional ‘59 style fenders that will be released in the new year. We told you we had some exciting projects in the works, but don’t go far, this is just brushing the surface.
Kids LA magazine is also touting us as the Christmas gift to get.
We caught this Roddler sighting on the freeway into Los Angeles. Too bad it wasn’t a little sunnier since the bop top would have been down and we could have had a glimpse of the passenger. The chauffeur was nice enough to allow us to snap this picture, but after traffic cleared up he passed us at the base of the Grapevine and was gone.
Another quick cruise down the 5 and we were off to Baby Ant on Ventura Boulevard. The Valley is also home to the CBS Studio Center [where the sitcom magic happens] and the vast majority of the adult entertainment industry. Needless to say there is an eclectic blend of style, wealth, and with a fair bit of baby making, Baby Ant is the source for all things great for your child. If you have been following our posts and market proliferation, we getting put in the window more often then the only couple in a restaurant. As a great side note, that guy in picture was hovering while we were there like I didn’t notice I dropped a $20. The minute we turned around, on went his hands and a silly grin. We thought he needed a few minutes alone.
18561 Ventura Blvd. [west of Reseda]
Tarzana, CA 91356
[818] 609-0410
www.babyant.com
I’m sorry for the flurry of blog posts but there are so many exciting things we are doing I can’t contain myself anymore. The first of the fenders from our high anticipated Tins for Tots event are arriving and they are more then we could have hoped for. I could use a bunch of colorful adjectives to try and convey my excitement but as wordy as I am it still wouldn’t do it the justice it deserves. Forget mounted and hung, can you picture how awesome these will look mounted to a Roddler and strut around town? If you already own another stroller, looks like they will have to stay on the wall and remind you to do your homework next time. We will post them as they arrive so please visit our site for artist bios, contest information and how they can be purchased with all proceeds donated to the artists choice of participating charities.
There is only one thing missing from this picture. No, not a Roddler for a change…we are sending her out in a few days. It’s me passed out in the boat with a few empty Negro Modelos after a long night of celebrating our new Mexican distributor, Baby Kingdom! With three incredible locations, five star customer service and style for days. We feel at home like chili pork skins in a bodega. Go Mexico!
Plaza Universidad C-7 Copernico # 912 Puerta de Hierro
3611-1997 3125-2060 3848-2118
www.bbkingdom.com.mx
Kayo for Kids by MiKaWi BVBA is a one of a kind shopping experience centrally located in Antwerp. Featuring a collection of unique art and design concepts for children, their sprawling 3000 square foot loft is worthy of continuing the guided tour from the the Fine Arts Museum across the street. Kayo is becoming notorious for being the purveyors of all things exclusive, and in staying true to form they are bringing in a Roddler and a trike. I can also guaranty a one of a kind shopping experience and strongly advise you bring the kids. Not only because it is also the first and currently only place in Benelux you can find us, but they have a saltwater aquarium that will take your breath away. Stay tuned for more updates on our European invasion.
I love Christmas. The lights, the Hanukkah bush and spiking the coffee with my crazy great aunt before noon ["happy time" comes earlier during the holidays]. I’m thinking Christmas prep might come earlier too this year. At least I may be able to drink auntie under the table by then because I don’t know how else to cope with these sob stories.
One thing for certain is that during a slower period, there are few entrepreneurs with the kahunas to innovate. With the people who don’t really need it being the ones who are getting the available loans, juvenile product companies should be cocked, locked and out to acquire. With long product development time lines that extend well beyond the projected ‘economic downturn’, they would either need the next gem in the works or have predicted this in 2006 to be in good shape [score one more point for domestic manufacturing]. Simply put, we praise innovation and frown on stagnation. Squinting through the periscope of juvenile fashions, all I see is the same dreck with new fabrics in 2010.
Companies are pumping their dollars into advertising and retailer markdown allowances, or rather, their last concerted holiday effort to apologize for releasing a product that is so unremarkable. I can’t believe Quinny managed to find another obscure European artist to make a limited edition, Bugaboo must have drugged and blackmailed Marc Jacobs to get him to lend him name to 7 year old Chameleon. 15 units or not I literally feel ill and have lost just a little faith in fashion. It brings me to the question…whats going to get people to pull out their plastic? Alternative marketing or conventional advertising? The big guys are clearly trying to buy into both, the real question is are the consumers buying into it? Have you seen the not so newly released Fendi Aprica?! That’s like Prada giving the thumbs up to a putting their name on a Ford Focus with a skirt kit. Anyone who actually owns a Fendi bag would be appalled by the monstrosity. I wish I could report it was a publicity stunt because I’ve seen it at retail despite no one but Aprica seems to want to take credit. [sorry Paul, that's 2 Aprica jabs in a row, but we hope to see you try a swipe at Maclaren]
Feature after feature, window after window, it astonishes us how the occasional short sighted, pound foolish retailer can get flustered and behave. After 2 years of courting I will sadly report we got the ghetto heisman from one guy this week in order to feature cheap ass garbage instead. Sorry, the rejection email we received a week prior to delivery read ‘holiday gifts’. Gee, how do you contest that logic. A stack of poorly designed and packaged products at the store front really makes consumers curious what other junk lies within. A little uncertainty and it’s time to retreat, deviate from the business model that made them successful and go with the Walmart philosophy. Now I don’t need to name names, but I will certainly say that we don’t make compromises so you won’t be finding anything from us there, now or never. What? I know, you wanted a hint. If Deez Nuts were looking for somewhere to live it would certainly pick this cow tipping town…
I feel bad even mentioning ‘the state of the market’ for the simple fact that only 4 letter words come to mind. We thought that it would be interesting for our readers to be able to get a little introspective from entrepreneurs on what it is like dealing in the market right now.
Let’s really set the scene. The media are proudly declaring the economic apocalypse is on the horizon. The banks that haven’t gone bankrupt are sitting on shpilkas until there is a bailout package and without equity and a 800+ credit score, entrepreneurs need not apply for a loan. The vast majority of retailers are battening down the hatches, sitting dumbfounded and preparing for impeding doom. Despite the Christmas lights going up, economists are predicting dark days for black Friday [for those who don't know that is the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the big push for Christmas sales].
We are now gracing the windows of the top tier retailers around the country. I can say with certainty that after speaking with nearly every specialty store owner or buyer around the country, many do not sharing the same perspective on how to stimulate traffic. It would be a fair assumption to make that the upper echelons of wealthy consumers are still spending. Where they may hang on to the Porsche for one more year, they are not turning themselves into coupon cutters. This consumer bracket is still looking for simple luxuries and they forced to choose the lesser of the evils because they look to the store to sift through the crap in the market and produce the most desirable merchandise mix. That means to be the cool store for modern, hip parents you need to have the coolest products. The Oeuf crib, Bloom high chair and Bubagoo Chameleon would be like Sony still making rear projection TVs their marquee item while Vizio is running around hocking paper thin HD-LCD with a built in Blue Ray player for a little more.
Simply put, retailers that have us in the window are experiencing increased foot traffic in their stores and increasing the sale of small ticket items immediately. While foot traffic is highest in the 4th quarter and purchasing in the 1st quarter and it would be entirely counter intuitive to introduce a highly visual product when consumers have already made their small purchases and taken the time to educate themselves on the choices available. Plus, if you are attracting all of these consumers at the onset and are now reinforcing that you are the destination location to find the newest and greatest, it would also be fair to assume that you are going to be the first stop in the future when they are in the market for something special.
Instead of support, we get countless requests for consignment models, free services, and other silliness from the stores and companies that are not really getting it. We are not trying to boast but I don’t know of a more novel feature then the trike conversion, a more innovative product then the Roddler, a stroller being manufactured in the USA, or a juvenile product that has had the diversity of media exposure that we have. So, dear skeptics, we have this to say. If you frown at the status quo in the industry but are not willing to support and embrace change when it arrives, by all means sit on your hands an wait for the next Bugaboo. These companies are one hit wonders. Holy crap, when was the last time a car company could get away with 10 years between model changes? They missed terribly with the Bee and have about 2 years to get their ducks in a row, so if there’s nothing on the drawing board now, might as well consider themselves the next memory like scrunchies, permed hair and Aprica. Since they just lost their US execs, dropped the Frog for spring ’09 and are forcing consumers to pay more for an archaic design. That is a pretty cheap shot and I would hope the market response will be for them to keep losing market share to Orbit. Unless of course you are just another Jones.
After 15 more minutes of fame at the CBS studios, we swung over to NoMi boutique to go visit their amazing store and awesome staff. We are gawking at their selection, and staff… they are gawking at the empty Roddler like we’re not wearing pants and just came in from a Proposition 8 rally [if you ever visit Berkeley you will understand]. A few minutes later…home sweet home. Ok, now if you are reading this, living in So. Cal, and haven’t heard of NoMi…what the heck have you been doing up until now? Like so many of the other cool product you are now familiar with, this is also where you can find us first in LA.
Like we were eluding to in the previous post, it is hard to describe the scale of Oakley’s facility so we thought we would add a few thousand words in the form of photos. The entrance is monumental inside and out [those are seats from an f16 fighter jet], there are more cars in the lot then Ikea mid-Saturday and forget the heli-pad, their security car isn’t either of the ones below, its a decked out Hummer H1. I challenge anyone from any industry to find a more infectious corporate culture. I was looking everywhere for the punch bowl of Kool-Aid but nothing to be found, it is so much the real deal once you leave you will be sifting through your drawers for your old Frogskins with the iridescent lenses. Thank you a million Neil for making it all happen. With what goes through their R&D department, the fact he was speechless was enough said.
You can high res images on SeriousWheels.com. Did we mention we have more features there then our Bay area brethren, Tesla. Ya, its one of the biggest car websites you’ll find aaaand we are a stroller.
words from the wise