Charlotte-City boasts high incomes, lots of customers
By Kay Anderson -- Kids Today, 9/1/2006
Babytown
Bellini
Slumber Kids
USA Baby
Loopy Loo
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CHARLOTTE — Dubbed the Queen City, Charlotte sits just north of the South Carolina border in North Carolina, in the heart of NASCAR country and home to the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers.
In 2005, the Charlotte metro area had a slightly higher proportion of its population under age 12 than the nation as a whole. Statisticians at New York-based Easy Analytic Software Inc. expect that proportion will increase by 2010.
They project a 7% increase in the number of children under the age of 12 living in the Charlotte metro area. Nationally, their projections call for a slight decline (0.2%) in the under-12 age group.
The area offers retailers a potentially lucrative market. Charlotte’s median household income is about $6,000 higher than the national median, according to estimates by EASI’s statisticians, and it is projected to increase by more than 25% by 2010.
It’s one of the nation’s most prosperous metro areas; only 59 of more than 900 metros have a higher median income. At $124,173, the median value of owner-occupied housing is almost $8,600 higher than the national median. On the other hand, the median rent of $557 is only $18 above the national median.
More than half of the area’s 25- to 34-year-olds — a group in their prime child-bearing years — have an income greater than the median household income, making them a deep-pocketed target for savvy retailers.
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| This vignette features a crib from Morigeau and bedding from Kimberly Grant. |
By Jane Kitchen
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With 12,000 square feet to its name, Babytown has enough space for consumers to find just about anything baby-related they’re looking for. Owner Karol Radmard opened the store in 1982, and at one point, she did carry just about everything.
These days, Radmard is limiting her merchandise mix to furniture, bedding, accessories and gliders, and is set to pave the way for a new idea in retailing. Starting next month, Babytown will be transformed into Baby Cubbies featuring Babytown, and will include 45 booths — all individually rented — with every category imaginable in thejuvenile industry.
Radmard said she’s seen this concept work in the home furnishings industry, and thought it was a smart way to expand her mix while spendingless time controlling theinventory herself.
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| This Morigeau crib is paired with Serena & Lily bedding. |
Each booth renter will do his or her own inventory control, and will decorate his or her own booth, but Radmard and her staff will sell the merchandise and provide the long-term name recognition and location.
Categories for boothswill include a sewing workshopfor custom orders, stationery, toys, clothing, maternity wear, nursing, washes and lotions, and even custom artwork. Radmard said she has four local artists who are interested in sharing a booth, and who would feature services such as mural painting, hand-painting for furniture and portraiture.
“I think a consumer would love to shop that way — seeing all this great product set up in a show-like atmosphere,” said Radmard. She plans to have the cubbies up and operational by next month, and plans to have a registry systems set up for the whole store, so consumers really can find one-stop shopping.
“I want to use my talents to do what I do best: selling,” she said.
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Custom designs, staff strong points at Bellini
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| Charlotte’s Bellini store carries both infant and youth beds and case goods. |
By Jane Kitchen
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s Bellini store makes its home in the established, tree-lined neighborhood of Myers Park, in a small, gently curving shopping center.
The 3,500-square-foot store, which has been in business since 1989, has been run for the past five years by Bernice Davis and Joyce McCaskill.
The storefront looks deceptively cozy; once you enter through the glass door, a large, open-air room awaits, with 24-foot ceilings and along with the requisite Bellini infant and youth furniture, a plethora of high-end juvenile bedding and accessories.
Bedding ensembles are from Susan Turner, Nava’s Designs, Bebe Chic, Serena & Lily, Pinecreek, and more. Accessories are plentiful and include choices from Art for Kids, Kootie Bugs, Renditions by Reesa, Stone Mountain, Creative Images, New Arrivals and Timeworks.
The store is also dotted with accessory furniture pieces like cradles from Green Frog Art, table and chair sets, and Moses baskets, along with Dutailier, Little Castle and Best Chairs gliders.
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| Accents and gifts are big business. |
Davis said that nine out of 10 customers who come to her store wind up buying there, something she attributes to her product mix and the employees’ customer service.
“We just feel that we’ve got the best staff for customer service in town,” said Davis, who reports that there are always at least three people on staff, any of whom can do custom design work.
Davis said that a full 80-90% of her sales are custom designs.
“(Customers) know we have a reputation for that,” she explained. “They see something they like and think, ‘I want something different for my baby.’”
Registries and gifts are big business at Bellini, where registries are still hand-written and customers receive one-on-one help with nursery design. Davis reports many customers stop by before a baby shower to pick up a gift, which the store will gift wrap, or a gift certificate.
Davis said that many of her customers do come back when its time to change from a nursery into a child’s room, and work with some of the same design staff.
“We do carry the unique, the unusual,” said Davis. “…We’re known as a boutique with exquisite things.”
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Slumber Kids features choices for every age
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| Slumber Kids caters mainly to kids ages 5 - 12, with items from manufacturers such as Moosehead. |
By Jane Kitchen
PINEVILLE, N.C. — Every city has a “Furniture Row,” and in the Charlotte metro area, the suburb of Pineville hosts a slew of the latest big box furniture stores, including Rooms To Go, Haverty’s, Boyles, La-Z-Boy, Ethan Allen, Storehouse and Bassett Furniture Direct — all right next to the Carolina Place Mall.
Nestled among them is one of three Slumber Kids stores, a local youth specialist with other locations in Matthews and Huntersville.
The Pineville Slumber Kids is 3,000 square feet, while the Matthews store is 5,200 and the Huntersville location is 1,600. The first store was opened six years ago, and today the retailer floors a mix of youth furniture from the likes of Barn Door, Young America, Moosehead and Flexa and its own import brand, New Energy. Slumber Kids is also a La-Z-Boy Kids gallery, with a large section of its youth devoted to Lea products.
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| Slumber Kids is a La-Z-Boy Kids gallery. |
Bedding comes from California Kids and Pinecreek, and accessories from CBK and Creative Images.
General Manager Fay Marcus reports that the store caters mainly to kids ages 5 to 12 years, and the space has a youthful appeal, with a large mural on the wall with airplanes and hot air balloons.
While the store has done no advertising yet, word of mouth, a Web presence and advantageous locations have served to draw customers in and boost business, along with promotions such as no payments, no interest for 12 months.
Marcus said the store draws shoppers from all over the state, as well as neighboring South Carolina, and that Charlotte’s housing boom has helped to grow the business.
But Slumber Kids is more than a youth specialist — the store has also floored cribs since its inception, with models from Young America and Child Craft/Legacy and gliders from Little Castle.
The Pineville store, with its suburban location a draw for young first-time parents, is focusing more on the infant side than the other two, with five cribs on the floor and three more on the way.
Marcus said the store is also adding single dressers with changing table tops, and is entertaining the idea of adding high-end strollers and high chairs.
“We want to cover every age,” said Marcus. “We are a specialty store.”
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USA Baby franchise keeps it all in the family
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| Youth choices at USA Baby include fun pieces from Flexa. |
By Jane Kitchen
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — While many juvenile specialty stores are family businesses, Charlotte’s USA Baby franchise really is a family affair.
The 10,000-square-foot store is run by Allen and Debbie Nickel, along with Allen’s sister Deidra Franklin and her husband, Lee. USA Baby’s Milwaukee store is run by Allen’s brother-in-law Bob Paffenroth, and Bob Paffenroth Sr., is also involved in the Charlotte store.
When the store first opened eight years ago, the two brothers-in-law started with the USA Baby concept in a 7,000-square-foot location, but in December 2003, they took over a pharmacy and dry cleaner in the shopping center and expanded the retail space to include a 2,300-square-foot Child Space.
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| USA Baby features a full line of gear. |
Infant furniture at USA Baby is from Baby’s Dream, Ragazzi, Munire, Bambino Reale, Legacy, Berg and Bonavita, and is set up in vignettes with walls painted in soft colors. Glider rockers are from Best Chairs, Dutailier and Pel, and youth furniture from Flexa, Young America, Ragazzi and Berg.
The store also includes a 4,000-square-foot on-site warehouse, and Allen Nickel said he keeps just about everything — with the exception of Best Chairs and Ragazzi, which offer a plethora of fabric and finish choices — available in-stock for immediate delivery, something he sees as a huge advantage over his competition.
The store carries bedding from Kids Line and Lambs & Ivy all the way through custom orders, and features fresh, new, modern geometric patterns from the likes of Caden Lane, Freckles and Glenna Jean in prominent positions up front.
Because Nickel said he wants the store to be a one-stop shopping center for expectant parents, the merchandise mix covers just about everything baby except diapers and apparel. A full range of gear is available along with safety items, feeding products, gifts, accessories, developmental toys and more.
Nickel said having a complete range of products helps set his store apart, and means customers can fulfill all their needs in one place, including baby registry, which is big business for the store.
“We feel like we have something for everyone,” said Nickel.
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Looby Loo fits high-end, fashionable niche
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| This table mixes infant clothing from Zutano with gift items for a colorful visual display. |
By Jane Kitchen
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Located in the bottom floor of a 1905 house in Charlotte’s historic Dilworth community, Looby Loo is full of fun energy and color, and one of those stores that when you walk in, you instantly want to buy something.
With 2,300 square feet of hardwood floors and lots of nooks and crannies filled with a merchandise mix that includes educational toys and trendy infant and youth apparel and shoes, the space is colorful, cozy and charming, with hip, upbeat music and tight visual displays that make full use of color and whimsy.
Toys are from HABA, eeBoo, Melissa & Doug, Alex, Schleich and Corolle, and apparel brands include Zutano, Petit Bateau, Charlie Rocket, Catamini and more.
Owners Chris and Julie Peace started the business six years ago and have spent the last four in this location, building their business almost entirely through word of mouth.
Chris Peace referred to his clientele as “commuter retail customers” who are willing to drive around all day and make an event out of shopping.
Peace pegs many of the moms who shop at Looby Loo as women who had careers and gave them up to stay home and raise their kids — highly educated, very savvy, fashionable and wealthy.
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| Apparel from Zutano takes up the better part of a small room at Looby Loo, and the line’s fresh, vibrant colors create atmosphere even when the clothes are on the rack. |
“They’ve become students of the consumables that surround childhood,” said Peace. European brand-name clothing and high-quality toys are a must for these women, and they’re not afraid to spend a bit extra to get something special for their little ones.
“It’s all about things that we feel are really good products,” said Peace.
Peace reports that the store is the Southeast regional flagship for HABA, and with a wide range of the German toy manufacturer’s product mix on display, he said his HABA business grew 60% in 2005.
His best-selling infant apparel brand is Zutano, which takes up the better part of a small room in the house, and which Peace reports was up 100% in 2005. Peace said the mix of toys and apparel is one that has worked well for his store, where grandparents and gift-givers are a big part of the mix as well.
“The clothing gives our store a different look every season,” he said.
And for these customers, who are repeat buyers, you’ve got to keep things fresh.
“The point of specialty boutique retailing is that you’re going to have a unique experience,” said Peace.
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