Editor's notes

As I write this column, I'm just a little over two weeks away from the start of my maternity leave, and I'll soon be settling in with a new baby, and getting to use some of the products that all of you make. Already I'm looking at both products and retailers with a fresh eye, but I imagine once the real thing is here, it will be much different.

I must say that the past nine months have flown by, and I have a newfound empathy for women who make the trip to buy their nursery furniture weeks before their baby is due — women I've heard many of you specialty store owners grumble about. (Not, I must add, that I waited till the last weeks, but that's partially owing to my insider position of knowing that I couldn't.)

Our cover story this month is a specialty store right here in neighboring Winston-Salem, N.C., and new owners Eric and Amy Vore are young parents themselves (see pages 28 – 29). They've been in the business just over a year, and are using their own sense of style, along with their experience as parents of young children, to ferret out unique, hip products that their contemporaries will really appreciate.

One of the things I appreciated when I visited their store was that in addition to the furniture, bedding and gear aimed at parents, there was a wide selection of toys, accessories and apparel for friends and relatives looking for a unique gift. Even though their store is only 4,400 square feet, the Vores have managed to combine the merchandising of a boutique with the breadth of product of a big box store, making it a great place for sophisticated moms-to-be to register for their baby products.

I also spent some time in Washington, D.C. this month visiting retailers for our Metro Report (see pages 35 – 41), and was really impressed with the variety of stores in the area and the unique things many of them are doing to differentiate themselves from their competition.

Owner Jim Streight and manager Brian Green of Great Beginnings have implemented some unique programs, like personal shopping nights, a boy/girl program for parents who choose not to find out the sex of their baby, and community involvement that includes an education office of a local women's hospital on the premises. It's this kind of creative thinking that puts the best independent specialty stores a notch above the rest — and perhaps more importantly, a notch above their competitors.

I've had more than one retailer over the years remark to me how lucky they are to be able to share in such a special time in parents' lives. It's true. But why not take advantage of that, and really reach out to the expecting parents — who, if they're anything like me, spend nine months being a mixture of overwhelmed, exhausted, excited, and at least partially in denial that their due date is really, truly approaching.