Serendipitous move brings success

Krista Bridges Burruss opened her store, Serendipity Baby in 2002 in Fayetteville, Ga., after enrolling her son Cooper in a day play program.

Though she'd had her own wedding consulting business and had attempted culinary school before Cooper was born, she discovered her passion for decorating while preparing his room and layette.

"I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I had to do something," she said. "Weddings were out and culinary arts just didn't fit me anymore. Fayetteville didn't have a boutique offering infant and children's interiors, so we did a little research and jumped right in."

Burruss' intention was to offer furniture, bedding and accessories, but a long-standing local children's clothing store was going out of business around the time she was opening Serendipity Baby, so she added that category to her mix.

"It was in the middle of shipping season, so it wasn't easy getting clothing into the store," she said. "But we did and we opened in November 2002."

Three years later Burruss was outgrowing her space and the lack of foot traffic wasn't a good sign. She'd arranged a month-to-month lease on her store while looking for a better location. This March, Serendipity Baby received an offer to relocate about 10 miles away to The Avenue in Peachtree City, Ga., an upscale, open-air lifestyle center.

"We made the decision within two days," Burruss said. "We started packing and moved the entire store in four days; it's not something I'd recommend to anyone!"

Serendipity Baby distinguishes itself from other retailers not only with its mix of products, styles and price points but also with its custom linens.

"Our most unique offering is being able to design and produce custom linens," Burruss said. "And they are truly custom. I assist customers with the design; we stock fabrics and have wholesale accounts with several mills. The construction is done in a workshop in Fayetteville by a seamstress named Patti."

Burruss' mother also works on the custom line creating mobiles and window treatments.

Styles run the gamut from classic and whimsical to contemporary in furniture, linens, clothing and gifts. Though the store doesn't carry gear (strollers, carseats, mass-produced high chairs) it does offer wooden and hand-painted high chairs. The top three selling categories are furniture, textiles and clothing.

Aside from one-of-a-kind offerings, Burruss drives her business with services. Delivery is $50 outside a 20-mile radius and gift wrapping, with traditional and funky wraps, grosgrain ribbon ties and a logo sticker, is always free.

"We also offer top to bottom design assistance," she said. "In addition to custom linens, accessories and window treatments, we help with paint choices, rugs, lighting and everything in between."

Serendipity Baby's customers are expectant parents to grandparents, though Burruss' actual target is expectant parents.

"Those who purchase their furniture and linens from us are more likely to come back to register, buy a sweet take-me-home outfit and visit us through the years for other items," she said. "We are now seeing customers come in for the second child and that is a great feeling to have them choose us again."

Burruss spends about 5% of her budget on advertising but also participates in community events and has a Web site, serendiptybaby.com. She's built a customer e-mail list of more than 500, who periodically receive item-specific coupons for members only. Burruss also discovered that being on vendor Web sites with retail locators helps drive traffic.

"Many expectant parents use the Web extensively to search and browse products they either don't have in their area or don't feel like running all over town looking for," she said. "I would say that 25% of our customers are driven from vendor Web sites. Word of mouth is the best and we tend to have a lot of customers come in on referrals."

Serendipity Baby works within the community and donates baskets every year for a few carefully chosen charities. Burruss learned early on not to donate to every cause that came along.

"You don't realize how many churches, schools and organizations will ask you to donate," she said. "It is fun to be able to do it, but it adds up quickly. Now I only donate to and participate in organizations and events that have meaning to me personally."

The lifestyle center location has been a beneficial move for the store, with an almost 70% increase in foot traffic. The center has a monthly newsletter promoting its tenants as well as events retailers are invited to participate in.

The store has its biggest sales in January and July and item-specific sales throughout the year. Burruss marks items down based on how long they've been in the store and how many she has in stock.

She's noticed a trend in the industry toward lower price points, and to combat that she's increased her lower price point lines but maintained the quality and selection.

Burruss said her best business ideas have been offering the custom linens and accessories and building an e-mail list, while one of her worst ideas was buying into lines based on the recommendations or wants of one customer.

"In the beginning I was eager to please and purchased a lot of stock I didn't necessarily like (in both style and quality) and ended up sitting around for two years," she said.

As with many retailers, Burruss' biggest challenge is keeping the store fully stocked and clean, keeping herself and employees happy with scheduling, and balancing owning a store and being a wife and mother.

"The most enjoyable part of my job is all of it!" she said. "As hokey as it sounds, just unlocking the door in the morning makes me smile. The relationships I've made through the store, being able to be creative on a daily basis and not knowing what the day will bring all are immensely rewarding. When any of these stop being so, it might be time to close."

Clothing, like these dresses from Luna Luna Copenhagen, is a top seller.

Krista Bridges Burruss and son, 5-year-old Cooper, with a Little Castle polka dot stool, Million Dollar Baby crib and one of Burruss' custom, hand-painted high chairs.

The Green Frog Art cradle is dressed with custom bedding. Art work from Drooz Studio and Renditions by Reesa add to the little boy look.

A chandelier from Louise Antoinette centers this display along with a Lillie Pad crib, Caden Lane bedding, New Arrivals wall décor and a floor lamp from Stray Dog Imports.

The Lillie Pad crib is dressed with Caden Lne bedding.