Genius Jones on cutting edge

Miami— As one of the preeminent high-design modern baby stores in the country, Genius Jones has helped paved the way for a new movement in juvenile products, acting as one of the first retail outlets for the likes of sensations like Bugaboo and David Netto — manufacturers that are changing the very landscape of infant products.

With doubled revenues each year since they opened in South Beach in 2003, owners Daniel Kron and his wife Geane Brito have recently opened a second Genius Jones store in Miami's Design District, quadrupling their size, and are about to embark on a new Web venture for geniusjones.com.

The name Genius Jones means "know-it-all," and that's what Kron and Brito aim to be for new parents — a trusted resource and a wealth of information.

"What makes Genius Jones different than everyone else out there is that we're a design store, but not just for design freaks," said Kron. "We have experience, expertise and great customer service along with it. We don't just treat the products as commodities. That breeds a tremendous respect with customers. We're not just selling products, we know our products inside and out. Old-fashioned customer service mixed in with the new design movement: that's Genius Jones."

Perhaps it is fitting that a store that focuses on the new aesthetic should have its genesis in tropical South Beach, where eye candy lurks everywhere and people-watching is a citywide pastime.

The first Genius Jones store is a 500-square-foot outpost just off the trendy South Beach pedestrian mall known as Lincoln Road, an area filled with sidewalk cafes and boutiques, body-builders and fashion models. It's what Kron calls his "little jewel-box of a store."

"A lot of people thought I was crazy," said Kron, "but I knew I had the right idea. I did my homework."

Today, Kron and Brito are well-known and respected within their niche market of modern children's furnishings — kind of elder statesmen in a new and cutting edge industry — and their new 2,000-square-foot Design District store is a showcase for a growing number of manufacturers.

In his previous life, Kron worked as a fashion photographer in New York; Brito was a Ford model. Kron has design in his blood; his mother is the home design journalist Joan Kron, credited with coining the term "high-tech" in the 1970s.

Genius Jones grew out of Kron and Brito's own interest in design and an awareness that there were other parents like them out there whose needs weren't being served.

"We shopped for the best in each category," said Brito. "Our core customer is very educated. She doesn't want to see a full array of strollers, she wants the best in each category."

"If you could buy it at Babies 'R' Us, there was no reason to carry it," added Kron. "We weren't trying to be everything to everyone."

The store really found its groove with the addition of two key lines: Netto Collection, for which Genius Jones has an exclusive for the entire state of Florida; and Bugaboo — Genius Jones was one of the first American retailers.

"We found Netto in a moment of serendipity," said Kron. "We were so excited to have found a line of nursery furniture that was something we wanted to sell."

The high-fashion, modern, clean-lined Netto Collection, which has gained momentum at least in part due to its celebrity clientele, is the key furniture line for Genius Jones. Although the store sells pieces from other high-design manufacturers like Oeuf, Offi and Stokke, because of Kron's exclusive deal with Netto, it is the only furniture he floors.

In the new Design District store, the Netto Collection has its own mini-gallery space, designed by David Netto and complete with walls paneled in oak floorboards as well as an orange-leather-covered column — because Netto wanted it there. The Netto area also pays homage to renowned classic area architects like Morris Lapidus, who built the famed Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, with curved lines throughout.

"(Netto) feels it's important that the furniture be shown the right way, in the right environment," said Kron. "It really is a partnership."

Kron said he and Brito were in discussions with Bugaboo before the company came to the United States, after reading about the Dutch-based stroller company in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

"It took us an entire month to sell the first one," said Kron. "...Now, we're at the point where we can sell 10 Bugaboos a day."

But Brito pointed out that this is not just because they've latched on to a hot product; it still remains, at heart, about customer service.

"We understand the product inside and out," she said. "...We train our sales people how to take it apart and clean it....we have a crew that's completely trained." When a customer buys a Bugaboo, employees assemble it for them, rather than sending them home with the box.

Genius Jones is also one of only two stores in the United States to carry the limited-edition Bas Kosters-designed Bugaboo, which retails for $2,000. To date, the store has sold 15.

"Modern is going mainstream," said Kron. "It's a direction we're going to be seeing in general in the United States...Modern in the kids market represents a tiny fraction of the marketplace, but it's the most influential. We're definitely on the cutting edge of a shift in taste in the kids market — whether it will take over remains to be seen."

If Genius Jones is any indication, the trend is most definitely growing; the store has doubled its revenues every year — and that's without the new 2,000-square-foot store, which just opened at the end of November.

"We knew we were on to something good," said Kron. He and Brito were feeling cramped in their 500-square-foot store, however, and were selling furniture mostly by showing catalog pictures. "We thought, 'If we had the space to show furniture, we could sell more,'" said Kron.

At the same time, the duo knew they needed to tackle the online end of their business.

"Our real competition is not other stores, but the online market," said Kron. "We needed to be in that market...It's particularly critical to our business; it's a time (parents) are learning a whole new subject. The way people research things now is through the Internet."

Because they wanted to do most of the online fulfillment in-house, Kron and Brito needed to look not only for space where they could showcase furniture in their second store, but also for warehouse and office space to help launch their e-commerce business.

They settled on the Design District, an up-and-coming area filled with high-design home décor showrooms, and adjacent to a booming area of mid-town Miami, with new condominium developments going up as fast as they're being sold and classic houses from the 1920s through the 50s being rediscovered and renovated.

Kron and Brito worked with a local architect to create a space for Genius Jones that's very clean and modern but also very kid- and mom-friendly, said Kron.

"There are a lot of low surfaces with toys to play with," he said. "We encourage kids to touch and play with things in the store...it makes it a fun place to be in."

Kron does all the buying for the store, and he looks for unique products.

"We want to surprise people with great stuff," he said. "I look for great design with a modern aesthetic, but it's important that the stuff works. We don't want to be a museum of modern design. There are some products that look great, but we don't feel that they meet the standard."

The new Genius Jones features 20-foot ceilings, all white walls, a minimalist feel, and the company's signature swimming-pool-blue painted concrete floors.

"We're not afraid to have a point of view," said Kron. "We're not afraid to lose a customer who walks in and doesn't get it. So much retail has been homogenized. To build passion, you have to have a point of view."

But as they do in their product selection, Kron and Brito have looked at the practical side of the store's design as well, ensuring there are plenty of comfortable spaces for their pregnant customers to sit down, and providing a Netto changing table in the store's restroom.

The merchandise mix features linens by dwell baby, Serena & Lily and Catamini; accessories by Offi, Agatha Ruiz del la Prada, Artencia lamps and Flensted; toys from Auto Moblox, Melissa & Doug, Fibi and Haba; apparel from Kingsley, Makie, Salvor, Trunk, Paul Frank and Calypso; Brazilian and Cuban lullaby CDs; Geuther high chairs and Peg Perego carseats.

Kron and Brito mix these products with vintage pieces and one-of-a-kind items, like a set of 1970s molded plastic chairs from Germany; lines with a local flair, such as Friends With You, a plush collection designed by a group of local Miami artists; and items that are not necessarily marketed to the juvenile market, but that work well in a kids' environment.

"It's very eclectic," said Kron. "That's where we really stand out...we find a lot of unusual things."

Kron and Brito's selection of staff is a bit non-traditional as well.

"We stay away from people who have a typical retail background," said Kron. "(Our employees) don't have to sell very hard — the customers are already sold when they walk in the door. Our job is to educate."

His staff includes two painters, a drummer and a woman who operates a record label in her spare time. "We all have backgrounds in creative things," he said. "...We relate well to our core customers."

Kron knows that while that core customer base is what he calls "design freaks," the store has a much wider appeal. Some customers visit the store specifically for lines like David Netto or Bugaboo, he said; some are looking for a $20 birthday present, and others think of Genius Jones as a clothing store.

"It's really interesting to see — every customer has a different perception," he said. "We connect with a lot of different people on different levels."

The online store promises to bring that connection to a whole host of people worldwide. Kron has a background in Web commerce, and has been developing the e-commerce arm of Genius Jones for some time. Currently, the store has a site that delivers product images and information, but this month, Kron hopes to have full e-commerce capabilities up and running, with registry features right behind.

He's invested in a software system that's the backbone of the venture, allowing him to track orders and feature real-time inventory.

"We're going to be a serious competitor online, and be able to translate the same shopping experience you have in the store to online," said Kron. "Whatever we do online, we want to be the best — you have to be the best to be taken seriously."

But the mainstay of their business remains the brick-and-mortar store. "We really see customers, and see what really works," said Brito. "...The customers really dictate what's working and what's not. It gives us a leg up on not just having beautiful products."

Kron said he and Brito are "definitely" interested in opening additional stores, though they have no plans yet.

"What we're doing represents the cutting edge of the market," said Kron. "And we're going to stay out there on the cutting edge."

Genius Jones' merchandise mix includes apparel and toys from local artists Friends With You.

The Netto Collection gallery features walls paneled in oak and an orange leather column.

Books and CDs are important for gift-giving customers.

Owner Daniel Kron looks for products with great design as well as functionality.