Kids today - October 1, 2009

For Ann Adrian, category-driven stores are just not inspiring. “This is why the big box experience is so overwhelming for most customers,” she said. “You walk in and wonder how you can be an expert in all these categories. My husband and I kept trying and walking out empty handed and afraid that we would be inadequate parents.”

• Buyer's Guide
• Baby, juvenile textiles vendors weather the storm with creativity in management, products

• By the Numbers
• Exclusive research: From the retail floor

• Departments
• Editor's Letter
• Looking ahead
• Safety
• The Regulatory Rustle

• Industry Faces
• Industry Faces: Bolting to the top

• News
• Lea debuts licensed Nickelodeon line
• Russ Berrie changes corporate name to 'Kid Brands, Inc.’
• Chicco exec Ken Sears dies at ABC Kids Expo
• CPSC launches social media initiative
• K.I.D.S. gets $480k in product, grants at ABC Expo

• Show Biz
• High Point
• High Point new products

• Up Close
• Up Close: Plush Toys