Kodomo

Playful & Stylish Clothes, Shoes & Accessories for Babies, Kids and Tweens

Kodomo is a children’s retailer that sells the cutest items for boys and girls from their stores in Massachusetts (two in Boston and the newest brick and mortar in Chestnut Hill) and online.

All the designers Kodomo partners with are hand-selected for their ethics and business practices and styles are hand-picked for their playfulness – quite a fabulous list that is growing all the time:

Genesis of Kodomo

For those who wonder, it’s pronounced kuh-doh-moh and it means “child” in Japanese. Founder Jasmine’s favorite memory of her early childhood spent in Japan is the Children’s Day holiday each May, a celebration of children’s personalities and their happiness. She founded Kodomo with this idea to respect the “powerful personalities” of the smallest shoppers and to emulate the happiness they express every day through the merchandise they offer.

And that means slow fashion.

Slow or ethical fashion embraces a transparent clothing creation process. It encompasses all steps taken to bring a garment or an accessory from the concept stage through the design phase, to production and finally to the point of sale. Great consideration is paid to each part of the manufacturing process, such as appropriate wages paid to workers, up-to-date factory conditions and maintenance, fabrics sourced with environmental impact in mind and sustainability and care are at the heart of every business decision.

Kodomo says their customers feel good about what they buy and are “tickled pink” about what they wear.

Don’t doubt it!

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources

Children’s retailers, are you suffering from inventory headaches? Five ways you’re triggering them.

Do children’s retail products inventory managers enjoy a good headache? Why else would so many waste time, drain profitability and divert focus away from core business priorities by mismanaging excess inventory? Whether you prefer a pounding or splitting headache, here are five surefire ways to trigger one now or later. By relying on these common strategies, you might as well just be banging your head against the wall anyway.

Make like an ostrich…put your head in the sand!

Ignore a problem and it will surely go away, right? Just put off decisions about what to do with your slow-moving children’s inventory. You can deal with the growing inventory, expenses and taxes later.

Lease additional space.

Out of sight, out of mind. Lease additional warehouse space and spend your company’s money by contributing to the profitability of storage and logistics warehouse companies.

Liquidate.

Go ahead, sell excess inventory at a dime or pennies on the dollar. Or better yet, give it away to employees as a bonus, and watch it pop up on eBay or in other secondary markets. Then wonder why old inventory is competing against your company’s efforts to sell current stock, why everyone seems to be waiting for your next giveaway or price reduction, or why you’re fielding calls from unhappy customers because your inventory is cutting into their sales and profit margins.

Continue selling it.

Do the same thing over and over again – maybe you’ll be the first person to get a different result. Children’s items are outdated and stale, sales are stagnant, but hey, maybe things will pick up.

Send it to a landfill.

You must really be looking for a public relations headache. Because when the media finds out that your perfectly good merchandise is taking up space in a landfill, you’ll have a doozey.

Seriously, though, don’t you already have enough headaches?

Luckily, there’s a way to eliminate inventory headaches without even popping any pills, and it’s a solution that turns a problem like excess inventory into a positive – for the company’s reputation and bottom line.

IRC Section 170(e)(3), a little-known section of the tax code, allows Regular C Corporations to donate excess inventory and receive an up to twice-cost federal tax deduction. Donating your excess inventory to a gifts-in-kind organization not only will significantly reduce your tax obligation, it will get your excess, non-selling products into the hands of qualified, deserving nonprofits across the country.

Gifts-in-kind organizations solicit donations of valuable, new merchandise from American corporations and redistribute that merchandise to their members, which include schools, churches, government agencies and other nonprofit organizations in need of supplies. The donation process is easy, secure and flexible, and many gifts-in-kind organizations provide a range of free services to donors. They can accept shipments of supplies ranging from one box to dozens of truckloads, and in many cases, the freight charges to ship a donation to a gifts-in-kind program also are tax deductible. They also offer a great solution for companies that are consolidating warehouse locations. Gifts-in-kind organizations keep detailed records of merchandise donations and redistribution, so when tax time rolls around, companies know exactly who received their products and how much they received.

In addition, provisions in the tax code stipulate that donated product cannot be resold, bartered or traded and must be used in a manner consistent with the charity’s mission, which means your product won’t find its way back to the open market. Companies also gain brand protection through their donations. The allocation system for gifts-in-kind donations ensures that the products are distributed across a thinly closed market, providing protection from the brand and product devaluation that can occur when extra inventory ends up in the open market.

Typical Donation Items

office supplies
class materials
clothing and shoes
maintenance items
tools and hardware
toys and games
computer software
sporting goods, books, tapes and CDs
arts and crafts
personal care items
holiday and party items
janitorial supplies
and more

Many companies also take advantage of gifts-in-kind programs to manage items such as underperforming SKUs, discontinued models or colors, seconds, buybacks and returns.

Gifts-in-kind organizations offer a simple, pain-free cure for any inventory headache.

Guest Blog by Gary C. Smith

Gary is the president of the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR), a gifts-in-kind organization based in Galesburg, Illinois. They like to say they are “in the Business of Empowering Generosity,” supporting communities by collecting merchandise donations from generous American corporations and giving it to those who need it most. For more information, contact NAEIR at (800)-562-0955 or donor@naeir.org, or visit www.naeir.org.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers = Delivering Good

This Mother’s Day, Honor a Woman Who Inspires You. Make a Donation in Her Name to Delivering Good (formerly K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers)!

Help us make this a memorable Mother’s Day by honoring a special woman in your life with a donation that will help Delivering Good offer hope, dignity and self-esteem to millions of people in need. Your donation, of any amount, helps provide much needed essentials -including apparel, accessories, shoes, home furnishings, toys, books, school supplies and other items- to women, children and families touched by poverty or natural disaster.

Submit the name of your inspirational woman here.

The national 32-year-old charity will add both your names to the 2017 Women of Inspiration Honor Roll that will be displayed at the Women of Inspiration Luncheon, which honors three leaders in the licensing, wholesale and fashion community.

June 7 a Big Day for People In Need

Not only will the Women of Inspiration Luncheon take place on June 7 in New York, the charity’s name change to Delivering Good will be complete. The new website, www.Delivering-Good.org, goes live! Helping to celebrate the milestone will be the luncheon honorees, fashion designer Tracy Reese, Gaye Dean of Target and Lana Todorovich of Ralph Lauren. Delivering Good’s social media sites are now live: @DeliveringGood on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The charity’s current website (www.DonateProduct.com) will provide updates on the renaming progress until the switch on June 7.

Delivering Good is the new name for the national charity formerly known as K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, and launching a new era of reaching millions of individuals challenged by poverty or natural disaster. For 32 years, the charity has helped millions of kids, adults and families affected by poverty and disaster resulting in over $1.6 billion of donated product that has been distributed through a network of community partners. In 2016, nearly 400 companies donated approximately $200 million of new apparel, accessories, shoes, home furnishings, toys, books and other useful items, distributed by more than 500 community partners to people in need. The name change reflects both new and continuing efforts to fight poverty and tragedies through the gift and delivery of new products. The models for helping others are changing nationwide and worldwide, and the re-launch will allow Delivering Good to better communicate its mission of delivering hope and dignity to people in need through community nonprofit partners.

“As our charity has evolved, we wanted to have a name and brand that could be embraced by our product donors, our financial donors, our community partners and the broader audience of consumers,” says Board Chairman Allan Ellinger. “Our programs are expanding to include donations and drives by children, company employees, community groups and more. Recently in Los Angeles, our staff was on the ground Delivering Good by personally handing out sandwiches and new socks to homeless men and women. At the other end of the spectrum, we have brands like BOBS from Skechers, who are Delivering Good by donating 8.4 million pairs of children’s shoes over the past six years, with another million pairs this year.”

Delivering Good receives high ratings from a number of organizations for low overhead and the ability to help people effectively. The charity efficiently leverages cash donations to achieve its mission – for every $10 of cash contributed, over $100 of donated new product can be provided to kids, adults or families in need. Delivering Good distributes product donations through a network of community partners to offer hope and dignity.

Renowned design and branding firm of Graj + Gustavsen has developed the new name and logo for Delivering Good. The law firm of Pryor Cashman has also supported the rebranding initiative. Board of Directors Vice President Milou Gwyn led this effort in her role as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, together with President and CEO Lisa Gurwitch.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Caeli Kids

Caeli is Latin for heaven. That’s what we try to make. A little piece of heaven to bring out your child’s inner angel.

New York-based Caeli Kids is a brand-new line of upscale dresses and sets for girls in sizes infants thru 16. A former head designer at US Angels, Rare Editions and Gerson & Gerson (Bonnie Jean), Caeli Kids owner/designer Quynh Waddell has taken her talents and partnered with a premium dress factory to produce this exquisite line. “Because Caeli Kids is partners with our factory, prices are much less than our competitors and very affordable,” Liz Faber tells me.

Great for Moms

“Being a mother of three kids, I understand the need to make clothes that look great and last,” Quynh says. “When I design, I look for patterns and color that excite me. I don’t go for what’s been sold already but what I would buy for my own girls.”

Dressy with a Twist

The launch collection is filled with a mix of novel, on-trend knits and woven fabrics, with embellishments such as laser-cut patterns, neoprene netting with satin ribbon soutache, sequin stripes with fringe, chunky, elaborate detailed floral embroideries with metallics, polka dot knit jacquard, high quality brocades, holiday laces and original prints. Silhouettes are traditional dressy and fun casual, with a new twist. Very nice!

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Indy “Talk” Shop

Kickstarter Campaign Launches Today!

Indy “Talk” Shop, a new creative educational toy startup for kids ages 0-3, produces toys that easily guide playtime with your kids for better bonding and learning. The company is launching a Kickstarter campaign today (February 28).

As You Read, You Play, and You Learn, Naturally

Based on new research in child development and play methods, Indy “Talk” Shop is creating a line of playboxes that is qualitatively different. Each playbox comes with an original story about a cute yet clumsy dragon named “Indy” and a matching classic toy, such as a puzzle, blocks, train sets, etc. Each story guides a reading-while-playing experience that prompts playtime with your kids and enables an interactive dynamic between parent and child to enhance developmental areas that are critical for their growth. While essential for a child’s early learning, the playboxes also offer parents the tools they need to help their kids learn.

Indy “Talk” Shop’s Kickstarter campaign offers backers an opportunity to donate the first playbox in a series, Indy and the Farm (an original story with a matching farm puzzle), to one of three New York-based national charity partners that support the education and advancement of children: K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, Family Health Centers at NYU Langone and Room to Grow. When you support Indy “Talk” Shop through the campaign, you will also buy Indy and The Farm for children in need.

About Indy “Talk” Shop

Indy “Talk” Shop is co-founded by Frida Matute, M.A. CCC-SLP, a New York-based medical pediatric speech-language therapist, and Alex Adarichev, an architect and designer. Frida’s inspiration comes from tying her clinical experience, research and love of watching kids and parents learn together. Their five-person team has been working diligently to make this launch a success.

Indy “Talk” Shop’s method is to embed tips and hints into the story’s pages, treating text with graphics, punctuation, capitalization and bold-faced type, so parents can read to their kids in a sing-song voice. This technique is “dynamite for language development,” says Patricia Kuhl of the Institute for Learning and Brain Science at the University of Washington. The combination of embedding tips for parents and encouraging an animated reading of the story while playing with the matching classic toy helps kids naturally repeat core vocabulary words and sounds. It also lets children practice early cognitive skills like problem-solving, matching and categorization.

Play research has been going on for years, although not all toy companies are embedding this research directly into the design of toys Like Indy “Talk” Shop is. “Preschool children learn better when an adult is involved,” says Dr. Jenny Radesky, a pediatrician specializing in child development at Boston Medical Center. In other words, guided play is best for kids’ development, to help parents and kids bond, learn and play more effectively. “When parents keep the conversation going, rather than simply trying to get their children to hear as many words as possible, they are preparing their children for later language and school success,” say Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnik Golinkoff, child psychologists and researchers at Temple University. Further research explains that healthy brain development relies on guided play between kids and parents. Indy “Talk” Shop playboxes guide parents through a playtime interaction that will make a difference in their kids’ development, whether they have five minutes or an hour to play.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Freshly Picked Marketplace

Newly launched online shopping community curated by Susan Petersen.

Baby and kid lifestyle brand Freshly Picked just launched the Freshly Picked Marketplace, an online community made up of small businesses that features hand-selected and unique baby products. Not only will shoppers learn the passion behind each business, they can buy the products online directly from the Freshly Picked Marketplace.

The unique companies are “freshly picked” by the Freshly Picked founder Susan Petersen, who started making durable, well-designed baby moccasins from premium leather in 2009. Her highly coveted moccasins soon became adored by parents across the country, have remained a celebrity kid must-have and are available online at www.freshlypicked.com and retailers nationwide, including Nordstrom, Zappos, Bloomingdales and others.

“The Marketplace community of small businesses is truly the best of the best, hand-picked and tested by the Freshly Picked team. I’m excited to introduce moms and dads to each of these wonderful brands, and to add to the Marketplace community moving forward,” Susan says. “As new baby product innovators have emerged and try to gain exposure for their awesome products, I’ve thought, ‘I’ve been there before’. As I found myself wishing I had megaphone to share each of their stories and products in a way that didn’t distract from our focus at Freshly Picked, my team and I came up with the idea for Marketplace.”

Susan and her team want to create an online destination for small brands that need and deserve exposure – and Marketplace shoppers can rest assured they are getting well-made, amazing products. The first companies selected include:

Sproutling + Co

“Sproutling + Co’s simple wooden baby mobiles are a stunning, keepsake-worthy nursery accessory.”

Sproutling + Co is a modern mobile company started by Kristin Okada in 2016. Simple, beautiful baby mobile made of natural products and handcrafted with care for your sweet new baby. Each mobile is shipped in a beautiful muslin keepsake bag.

Koko’s Nest

“Koko’s Nest blankets’ modern design, heirloom quality, and intelligent versatility make them a must-have for every new arrival.”

Koko’s Nest is a contemporary knit baby blanket company started by Sy Yang in 2015. Made of 100% Egyptian cotton and spun in Italy, this year-round, versatile blanket will become a part of your everyday life as a family.

The Posh Society

“The Posh Society’s leather bows are the perfect size and shape for every tiny fashionista!”

The Posh Society is a playfully indulgent baby bow company started by Sasha Petersen in 2013. Each bow is made with genuine Freshly Picked leather and is attached to thin ivory elastic, made with felt on back of leather for maximum comfort.

Hazel Village

“Hazel Village produces their soft toys responsibly, striving for heirloom quality at a reasonable price.”

Created by Jane Van Cleef in 2010, Hazel Village is a soft toy company inspired by her favorite childhood stories like Brambly Hedge, Uncle Wiggly and the Little House stories and then expanded into making woodland theme animal toys.

Bannor Toys

“Made with all safe and organic materials, Bannor hardwood toys are beautiful and last a lifetime.”

Bannor Toys is a wooden toy company founded in 2012 by Jesse and Stacey Bannor.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

The NEW Angelcare/Sassy

“We’re pioneering design and functionality that is going to change the conversation about monitoring and baby care for years to come.”

-Tom Bratton, Angelcare CEO

This year, Angelcare Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary Sassy Inc transformed as a company to create groundbreaking new products in baby monitoring and developmental toys. Combining the latest technological advances with scientific insight and modern intuitive design, the Angelcare and Sassy offerings deliver what today’s parents and caregivers want: peace of mind while helping their children thrive.

The Industry’s Top Innovators

Canada-based Angelcare assembled a team of the industry’s best minds to drive this unprecedented step forward in baby care standards. “Recruiting top talent was our number one goal for the relaunch,” Tom tells us. “We built our team from top global brands in a range of fields—baby, health and beauty, consumer electronics, technology/SaaS—to create this unique culture of innovation and thought leadership. When you get this caliber of people together, it’s amazing what they can create.” With a growth mindset and shared commitment to supporting children, parents and caregivers, the Angelcare/Sassy team focuses their combined insights and skillsets on transformative solutions that truly advance the industry standard.

Intentional, Science-Driven Design

Angelcare/Sassy taps into the desires and expectations of today’s millennial parents. From data-driven tools and a modern design aesthetic, to the latest technology and the best materials, Angelcare/Sassy brings baby care up to the minute and set the standard for decades to come.

A Breakthrough in Baby Monitoring Technology

Coming in January 2017 to North American retailers, Angelcare’s new AC417 and AC517 baby movement, sound and video monitoring systems have a new sleek design and include the only wireless movement sensor pad on the market. They feature Angelcare’s new Activity Analytics for tracking baby’s movement. “Our new wireless sensor pad is all about simplicity combined with safety. Parents are going to love it,” says Angelcare President Jordan Riggs, “but the real game-changer is the activity tracking and reporting built into our new monitors.”

Current fans of Angelcare products know that their monitors are designed to sense baby’s slightest movements and sound an alarm if no movement is detected after 20 seconds. The new models offer this core alarm feature plus the ability to track, record and report on baby’s bigger movements (like restlessness, rollovers, and kicks). With this insight into baby’s activity level during sleep, parents are better able to adapt routines and respond to baby’s needs. The ultimate result is more peace of mind (and rest) for everyone. “Today’s parents use technology in all aspects of life,” Jordan says, “and at Angelcare, we provide moms and dads with easy-to-use monitors that help them care for baby, relax and enjoy the adventure of parenthood.”

Sassy Set to Launch 100+ Products in 2017

Working with premier child development PhD’s and experts, Sassy renewed its focus to incorporate the latest research into all Sassy products with its trademark child-pleasing colors and shapes. The company is launching more than 100 new toys, feeding and baby care products in early 2017 that will help children thrive by focusing on developmental and educational needs.

The fresh offerings include an exciting range of new materials and bolder colors designed to help children play with purpose, as well as learn to solve problems, be flexible and self-motivate. From toys to teethers, bathing products to innovative cups, all of Sassy’s new products are designed to fit a child’s growing sensory perception, motor skills, and creativity.

“The Sassy team not only understands the importance of child development, they also bring a high level of style to the process,” says Sassy Vice President of Marketing Susan Hinshaw. “Today’s millennial parents demand more from baby and child care products. Sassy’s flair for stylish touches make the company’s new products consistent with modern aesthetics and compatible with on-the-go lifestyles.”

Today, Northbrook, IL-born Sassy is part of Angelcare Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with development, design and engineering in Grand Rapids, MI. The company’s current product line includes developmental toys, feeding items, baby care products to help children thrive and industry-leading movement monitoring that gives parents 24/7 peace of mind.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Pepperi

What’s a Pepperi?

Pepperi is a species of frog that displays the most beautiful colors and markings of almost any animal on the planet. Known for being able to see in almost every direction, Pepperi frogs have very powerful legs to help them leap to great distances.

Pepperi is also the spirit animal of a company offering a mobile commerce solution for brands and wholesalers. Great for onsite and online B2B sales, the fully customizable apps for catalog presentation, order taking, merchandising and e-commerce puts everything your sales reps, merchandisers and customers need at their fingertips.

Children’s Accessories & Toys

For brands and wholesalers of toys and accessories looking to increase sales, Pepperi simplifies ordering with capabilities built specifically for the infant, children’s and toy industries. Product searching can be filtered with attributes such as age, gender, theme, category and sub-category. With Pepperi, sales reps use a mobile app to take more and bigger orders on the go, showcasing product catalogs at customers’ offices, retail stores and trade shows. B2B customers can order directly from your web storefront, anytime, anywhere.

Pepperi’s business development folks will tell you companies that use Pepperi

see a lift of over 20% in sales
cut order processing costs by as much as 30%
deliver a memorable buying experience for B2B customers

“Over 1,000 businesses in 58 countries use Pepperi,” Business Development Manager Stacey Woods tells me, “integrated to their back-end ERP and accounting systems to transact more than $1.25B a quarter and continually grow their business.”

Based in New York, Pepperi mobile sales software is a game-changer for brands and wholesalers of all sizes across all industries, including Rip Curl, Toy Networx, Boboli, Blue Range and others. See How Simply Southern Tees Integrated Pepperi into QuickBooks for Increased Sales Growth.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Lofty Elephants

Boutique toddler clothes handmade from beautiful, unique printed fabrics.

Farah Chherawalla is owner of Lofty Elephants, what she calls a “lofty endeavor to provide boutique toddler clothes made from beautiful and unique fabrics and prints at department store prices, while employing men and women in desperate need of income to feed their babies or put their children through school.”

Handmade in India

This Mom-owned and operated online apparel business sells children’s clothes that are handmade in small batches in India, using materials from small businesses. “Most of our prints cannot be seen anywhere else, and chances are they will not be repeated,” Farah says.

Part of Lofty Elephants sales proceeds benefit the operation of an education center that empowers women by teaching them skills, which make them employable. In return, Lofty Elephants aims to employ most of these women.

How to Buy

Due to technical difficulties on http://loftyelephants.com, Farah asks that you email info@loftyelephants.com with any interest in buying. “We will soon be available on Amazon.com,” Farah says. “Sorry for the inconvenience and we promise you an even more exciting collection soon.” Stay in touch with Lofty Elephants on Facebook.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

kidpik

Girls’ shopping reinvented.

The recently launched shopping site kidpik hopes to change everything you thought you knew about shopping for girls. Created by the executives behind The Children’s Place, kidpik combines the luxury of personal styling with the convenience of home shopping, designed exclusively for girls and tailored to fit any budget. Seasonally, kidpik is expected to deliver a curated, coordinated and fashionable selection of quality outfits right to your doorstep, with the added benefits of free shipping, free styling and no membership fee.

No Commitment kidpik Experience

“Children’s preferences in clothing have evolved over the decades and so should the shopping and delivery system,” says Ezra Dabah, kidpik founder and CEO. “We are excited to deliver this ultimate shopping experience.”

Every item is designed and curated in kidpik’s NYC studio, where stylists and proprietary algorithms work collaboratively to remove the difficulty, time and guesswork from the shopping experience. Whether your daughter favors a look that’s Girly Glam or Classic Chic, Modest or one of kidpik’s five lifestyle looks, the interactive fun style quiz will help identify her unique style. Girls ages three through 12 (sizes 4-14), with the help of grown-ups, can define and own their signature style on the kidpik site.

“Pik” What She Loves & Send the Rest Back Free

Each fashionista will receive her own personalized box containing about six coordinated quality fashion apparel pieces such as tops, bottoms, dresses, layering pieces, shoes and accessories -designed to complete several mix and match outfits. “Pik” what she loves and send the rest back free. The average kidpik box price is under $100 and the cost of each item is just $12.50 if she decides to keep the entire box.

One of the Coolest Parts …

Purchase the entire box and get a 30% discount; keep what she likes and kidpik will donate any returned items through its charity partnership.

kidpik is the newest endeavor from prolific fashion entrepreneur Ezra Dabah and the executive and creative teams behind classic children’s brands including EJ Gitano, The Children’s Place, Disney stores, Nina footwear and Rum American Kid’s Wear.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!