Retailer keeps focus on bedroom

Cincinnati— "I was looking for a business I could have fun in."

After years of working as a certified public accountant, Dave Laub was seeking a new direction, and it turns out his mother-in-law had the solution.

While living in Louisville, Ky., she had worked in the juvenile industry and she suggested it might be just what Laub was looking for. Laub agreed, and 11 years ago, he opened Room to Grow in Cincinnati.

The store started out at 4,500 square feet, and now is more than twice that size. The first expansion added 1,500 square feet and, this past March, the square footage increased again to 10,000.

Laub said the additional space was needed because he wanted to tweak the store's target audience a bit. Since its beginning, Room to Grow has focused on the middle to upper-end markets, he said. Recently, however, he decided to broaden his mid-tier offerings but didn't want to reduce the floor space for any of his longtime manufacturers.

Thus, he added 4,000 square feet in March. "It gave us 20 new rooms of furniture, and we added four vendors," Laub said.

Room to Grow floors furniture, bedding and accessories for babies though tweens. Laub said since the store's inception, the emphasis has been clear: "We are very much focused on children's bedrooms."

To that end, he offers few gifty-type and gear products, and sells only one car seat brand, Britax.

Furniture is the store's bread and butter, arranged in fully merchandised vignettes, with pieces from a manufacturer grouped when it makes sense. Major infant manufacturers include Child Craft & Legacy, Ragazzi, Natart, Munire and Dutailier. Youth vendors include Ragazzi, Berg and Vermont Precision Woodworks. Laub said his top-selling finishes in both baby and youth are medium-brown shades, although white remains popular for little girls.

Cribs at Room to Grow retail between $349 and $999, with most selling in the $499 to $599 range. Laub said that twin beds sell for about the same prices. As with many youth retailers, he said that many kids are choosing different types of beds. "Full beds are taking off, and bunk bed systems that include study and storage options are becoming more popular," he said.

Laub said he's also seen an increase in sales of captain's bed and trundle beds, while sales of traditional bunk beds have faded somewhat.

He puts his sales ratio at about 55% infant and 45% youth, which he says always has been a key area for the store. "When we first opened, we believed there was a market for the 2 to 12 category," Laub said.

Room to Grow also sells both infant and youth bedding. He said new parents that shop the store tend to favor lifestyle looks over typical baby themes. These parents are looking for bedding with geometric patterns, and they also want tactile bedding. "They want things that are really, really soft," he said. "They also want things that fit in with the rest of the house."

For older children, Laub said classic themes such as sports, transportation, flowers, butterflies and princess remain popular. He noted, however, that many of the designs — particularly for boys — now have a vintage twist, a look that was seen at last month's All Baby and Child Expo.

Laub attended the show and said he was quite pleased. "I thought this ABC show was the best I had attended in many, many years," he said. Although he found a few new vendors, he said he was especially happy with the new products from his existing furniture manufacturers. Laub also shops the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Assn. show and Atlanta gift markets. He attends the High Point furniture market about every other year.

Laub said his typical customers tend to be dual-income parents with professional jobs and sophisticated style tastes. He reaches these customers through advertisements in family-focused magazines, furniture magazines, radio spots, billboards and some direct mailings.

Room to Grow also has a Web site, which is being updated, although Laub doesn't plan to sell online. "I think people need to see furniture in person," he said.

And because of the store's focus on the bedroom, registries are not a big part of the business. "We don't carry a lot of things you see on registries," he said.

Laub said there are several factors that set his store apart from the local competition, which includes USA Baby, Bellini, Babies "R" Us, Burlington Coat Factory's Baby Depot and Treehouse Kids Co., another independent specialty store.

Room to Grow is the largest juvenile store in the area, he said, and it offers merchandise the others don't. "Customer care" is another key component. "I don't like to call it customer service because everyone says that," Laub said. "We don't try to sell to people. We try to educate them (about the furniture) ... and develop a level of trust."

A focus on safety and after-purchase follow-up are hallmarks of Room to Grow, he said. As an independent, Laub said he has other advantages over big-box stores and chains such as Bombay and Pottery Barn, which both have gotten into the juvenile business since Room to Grow opened. "My ability to change and adapt relatively quickly gives me an advantage. I don't have any corporate pressures," he said.

Laub credits his staff of seven employees for the store's success, saying hiring great people is the best thing he's done.

He's optimistic about the future of the juvenile business, saying, "I think the stronger stores will get stronger, and the weaker stores will pass away."

He's equally optimistic about Room to Grow's future, which benefits from referrals and return business. "When you take care of your customers, they come back to you," Laub said.

The infant category makes up about 55% of sales at Room to Grow. Here, bedding and accessories in green and blue help create a gender-neutral nursery.