Miami, FL - South Florida a hot spot for infant, youth
Janice Chamberlain -- Kids Today, 6/1/2006
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* Baby Love offers one-stop shopping
* El Dorado woos youths
* Sweet shopping at Five Cent Lemonade
* Design services are Kate & Leo’s hallmark
Known for spring-break activities, sand and surf, NFL and NBA championship teams, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach area is also a mecca for kids’ merchants.
Among the 934 U.S. metro markets, Miami ranks in the upper third of metros for juvenile furniture spending in 2005 and in the top half for spending on infants’ equipment.
Statisticians at New York-based Easy Analytic Software Inc. (EASI) project 5% growth in the number of children 11 and younger for the greater Miami metro area from 2005 to 2010. That compares with an overall no-growth projection for the U.S. as a whole for the same time period.
Just as the growth in the child population in Miami is forecast to outpace the national growth rate over the next five years, Miami household income is also expected to exceed the national average by 3%, providing opportunities for savvy kids’ retailers to snag additional revenue dollars.
EASI statisticians expect greater-Miami residents to exceed the national rate of spending on juvenile products from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the national spending growth rate for juvenile furniture and infant accessories is anticipated to increase 24% over 2005. In comparison, Miami spending on juvenile furniture is projected to jump 28%, with spending on infant accessories up 26%.
One of the biggest areas of opportunity is among the Hispanic population. According to EASI statisticians, Hispanic households represent one third of Miami’s total households. They are projected to account for 36% of households in 2010. Miami ranks in the upper 5% of the nation’s more than 900 metropolitan areas for its concentration of Hispanic households.
Baby Love offers one-stop shopping
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| Baby Love uses every square foot of space with stacked room vignettes. |
By Lisa Casinger
Baby Love in Sunrise, Fla. is a well-known, second-generation retailer.
Founded in 1973 by Peter and Barbara Komroff, this 52,000-square-foot specialty retailer is truly a one-stop shopping experience. Today the Komroffs’ son Elliot and his wife Karyn manage the day-to-day business, though Peter and Barbara are never far away and can always be found at trade shows and industry events.
Elliot is responsible for operations and buying the majority of the product while Karyn handles personnel and buys the clothing and shoes.
The company has grown some since our 2003 cover story. They’ve added about five employees and “sales are up this year compared to last year,” Elliot Komroff said.
During the last three years, Komroff hasn’t changed the product mix much, but each of the five major departments have expanded their selection. The Web site, www.babylove.com, also has grown.
“We’ve increased the number of items on the site, but it’s still no where near the number of items in the store,” Komroff said. “We do all of our own shipping and almost every order goes out the next day.”
Top-selling categories include metal goods (strollers and car seats), furniture and accessories. The store features a Stanley Young America gallery and more than 65,000 items at all price points. Clothing and shoes are a big section of the store, and Komroff has found his niche with higher-end, specialty clothing rather than trying to compete with the middle-market mass merchants.
Komroff said higher-end products in general are selling well and in the past five years he’s noticed parents willing to spend more money when it comes to their children.
“The Bugaboo, Britax and Peg Perego lines do well for us,” he said. “Five years ago parents wouldn’t spend the money for higher-end goods, but today they do.”
With a name like Baby Love, there’s no doubt the majority of shoppers are looking for infant products, but the store also sells youth furniture and enjoys a healthy business from parents who return to the store to purchase items for their second and third child.
As a second-generation retailer, Komroff has learned a lot about the industry and the business. He said their best business idea was when the doubled their space 13 years ago by moving into their current location; the 16,000-square-foot outside warehouse was another good idea, one that allows the retailer to have everything in stock when the customer’s ready to buy.
Like most retailers, finding good employees always is a challenge, but most of the people on the Baby Love staff have been there for years.
Baby Love’s success comes not only from its plethora of product and availability but also from having a well-trained staff and being willing to go out on a limb sometimes.
“Retailers should always try new items,” Komroff said. “We add new items all the time. I’ve been buying for 20 years and I’m still amazed at some of the things we try that really hit the mark with customers.”
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| El Dorado hosts pajama parties and events in conjunction with Radio Disney to build its youth market. Capo said desks are lagging in sales, girls groups sell most often and the trend is toward more contemporary looks for boys and girls. |
Top 100 furniture retailer El Dorado is a third-generation family business founded in 1967 by Manuel Capo and his sons.
His son Carlos is an executive vice president, buyer and merchandise manager for the eight stores and his granddaughter Maday is the youth buyer.
Carlos Capo has seen a lot of change in the youth industry in his 40 years in the business.
“Our youth sales represent about 5% of our business,” Capo said. “Today’s parents are much more willing to spend money on their kids than they were 20 years ago. The parents are wealthier and they’re having fewer kids so they want them to have the best.”
El Dorado carries furniture geared toward tween/teens in about 4,000 square feet of space per store. Furniture vendors include Renar, Lea Inds., Legacy and others and though the product is shown in vignettes, accessories are not a big part of the business.
Capo said girls’ furniture always sells better than boys and they don’t have unisex displays. “Though the furniture can be for either, there is no unisex, you’re either a boy or a girl,” he said.
Capo has seen changes in the category in recent years. Previously desks and twin beds were the staples, but today full beds are outselling twins and desks are becoming less popular.
“Desks were the icons of youth furniture but now they represent less than 50% of the business,” he said. “Kids are using laptops and doing their homework on the floor or bed. The space once used for desks is now used for games and electronics.”
Full beds are more popular because kids are bigger than they used to be and are more concerned about having a comfortable bed.
“Kids are making the decision about 75% of the time as to what’s bought for their rooms,” he said.
Customers shop El Dorado because of the selection, same-day service, name recognition and price; for example twin beds range from $199 to $599.
El Dorado enjoys a thriving repeat customer business, but it also gets the word out to new customers with ads geared toward youth and it hosts in store events like pajama parties. The retailer also is affiliated with Radio Disney and has tie-in events about four times a year.
Capo said one challenge with youth furniture is staying on-trend.
“We try to be fashion oriented, but that’s difficult with youth and accessories because by the time we get it on the floor they’ve changed their minds,” he said.
The biggest challenge, one not exclusive to youth, is knowing what customers want. El Dorado tried youth focus groups, but now relies on feedback from it’s associates about what groups the kids are showing interest in, why they did or didn’t buy a collection, etc.
“The issue for the youth furniture industry is getting into the consumer’s mind,” he said. “We need to understand how they’re using their space; find out what they want and what they’re interested in.”
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Sweet shopping at Five Cent Lemonade
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| Bedding, furniture and room decor are top sellers at the boutique. |
Melissa Weingarden had a by-appointment interior design business for six years until she decided to open a retail store three years ago.
The store, Five Cent Lemonade, carries furniture, accessories, bedding, clothing and some gear.
“When I first started my business, everything was vintage inspired,” Weingarden said. “The name Five Cent Lemonade has a warm, fuzzy feeling of being a little kid. I was at the New York Gift show working for a manufacturer and there was a guy selling frozen lemonade and wearing the old-fashioned paper hat. I had a vision of quaint little store and the idea took off from there. People in the baby world get it but I also get calls sometimes asking if I sell lemonade.”
Weingarden carries brands other stores carry but it’s her passion for what she does that comes through to her customers.
“I love what I do and can spend hours designing a crib set,” Weingarden said. “About 90% of our business is custom work, but I try not to do much in-home design.”
Weingarden works with customers in her store on design projects and said with technology and floor plans she can complete just about any job.
The store has doubled in size since its opening and features a space dedicated to clothing retailer Little Dreamers, along with furniture from Bradshaw Kirchofer, Nurseryworks, Classic Furniture and Bratt Décor; textiles from Baby Chic, House, Serena & Lily and Maddie Boo; and accessories and gear from Renditions by Reesa, Maura Daniel, Smile for the Birdie, Bugaboo, Melissa Joy, Skip Hop and Oi Oi. Her top selling categories are bedding, furniture and room décor.
Average annual sales are about $500,000, up almost $200,000 since the expansion and addition of Little Dreamers, and Weingarden is venturing into the wholesale arena with her own diaper bag under the Melissa Joy label.
Though Weingarden doesn’t spend much on advertising, she does have a baby registry that draws a lot of traffic and she’s recently started working with a public relations company. Her in-store events and community involvement usually benefit a local charity, the Samantha Foundation, an organization that focuses on child safety in the home. Each year the store has a fund-raiser for the organization; this year Weingarden is hosting a fashion show and serving cookies and lemonade.
Five Cent Lemonade is open and airy with product shown in highly accessorized vignettes with a healthy mix of boys and girls looks. Twin beds run $900 with cribs at $620 but Weingarden likes to carry a mix of price points for all shoppers.
“Someone can walk in and buy a $17 burp cloth or a $1,700 dresser,” she said. “It is a boutique, not a discount store, but we have something for everyone.”
Weingarden attends JPMA and the New York and Atlanta gift shows, and she is thinking of attending the ABC Expo this year, but with a small staff of three it’s sometimes difficult to juggle the business and attending all the shows.
Weingarden said going from a one-on-one design business to opening a retail store was one of the best moves she’s made and so was adding Little Dreamer. Her diaper bag line, too, is something she’s excited about.
When it comes to trends in her area, Weingarden said parents are looking for more whimsical and modern styles and shying away from “mass produced” looks.
“Parents are funkier today than they were five years ago,” she said. “They’re sophisticated and savvy shoppers. That’s one reason we really promote the furniture that can last for the long term, offer gliders that can be slip covered and chandeliers that are bigger and scaled to the room; they’re investments.”
Weingarden said the biggest mistake she made starting out was not educating her customers about furniture, something she now does.
“The biggest problem in the industry is furniture delays and damage,” she said. “In the beginning I neglected to talk about the long lead times and the issues that crop up with damages. This is a real problem, especially with smaller stores like mine. More and more things are being made overseas and while you might get it quicker and cheaper, there really is a quality issue.”
The most enjoyable part of Weingarden’s job is the personal relationships she builds with her customers and seeing the finished product when she helps them design their nursery.
“Having a baby is one of the happiest times in a person’s life,” she said. “People with all types of budgets put so much passion into their babies’ rooms because for nine months it’s really the only tangible thing they have to concentrate on.”
Weingarden is very focused on customer service, so much so that even if she ever starts selling on her Web site, fivecentlemonade.com, she’ll set it up so people call the store and speak to a live person to order product.
“Customer service is key,” she said. “You have to be honest. You’re going to mess up and make mistakes, but if you’re honest it will go a long way. You can fix mistakes, take a loss on product, but your reputation and how customers are treated is what people remember.”
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Design services are Kate & Leo’s hallmark
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| One nook in the store features a variety of colorful apparel. |
Patricia Kahane is an interior designer by trade, and for more than 20 years she ran a design studio in New York.
In 2003 she opened Kate & Leo, a children’s boutique on the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, Fla.
The 1,500-square-foot store carries everything from cribs ($550-$1,400), twin beds ($1,600) and custom layettes Kahane designs and has made in South America to accessories, clothing, wall décor and more. Shoppers can take advantage of Kahane’s interior design services or simply shop for gifts, clothing and furniture.
The Miami store has been so successful (sales are up 20% over last year) that Kahane opened a Greenwich, Conn., store in 2004. Combined annual sales for both stores are more than $1 million, with the Miami store leading in sales. About 80% of the business comes from design jobs.
Kate & Leo features vendors like Stanley’s Young America, ducduc, Oeuf, Nurseryworks, Kaloo, Dr. Brown and more, and Kahane shops international shows in Cologne, Paris and Spain as well as U.S. markets to ensure her product mix is fresh.
“I travel a lot, so I might find bedding in Holland or a crib in France,” Kahane said. “Our custom bedding also distinguishes us from other stores … (as does) our full-service design work.”
Kahane said the store has the illusion of being expensive, but she carries all price points; her goal is to be sophisticated but accessible. She stays competitive in pricing by keeping tabs on Internet sellers and is selling online through her own site, www.kateandleo.com.
The Miami Kate & Leo shopper differs from the Greenwich shopper. Miami has more Latino moms, but they’re also younger — “she’s not SoHo but she’s modern” as Kahane said.
These moms like their children’s rooms soft and cute, but not necessarily traditional or fussy; they’re looking for clean, crisp looks.
Kate & Leo offers signature gift wrap, which further brands the store, and word-of-mouth is Kahane’s best source of advertising.
“The most enjoyable part of my job is when moms come in with their babies,” Kahane said. “Sometimes it’s a challenge to meet the deadlines of designing nurseries for the babies who come ahead of time, but it’s always a thrill to finally meet them.”
Kahane’s advice to other retailers is to concentrate on service.
“Service is the most important thing,” she said. “Product taste is subjective but personal service truly sets you apart; you are the only person who has the power to improve it.”
