Born and raised in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster, PA, Laura Haiges always loved handmade clothing and traditional wooden toys reminiscent of the past. But when she started raising her three daughters, it seemed like all she and her husband Pete could find were mass-produced items of questionable quality. “I could never seem […]
Born and raised in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster, PA, Laura Haiges always loved handmade clothing and traditional wooden toys reminiscent of the past. But when she started raising her three daughters, it seemed like all she and her husband Pete could find were mass-produced items of questionable quality. “I could never seem to find products that I liked,” she recalls. “I was tired of shopping at the mall. And Lancaster hadn’t had a baby store in a long time.”
So in May of 2006—five weeks after her third daughter was born—Haiges opened BellaBoo, a boutique stocking everything from baby gear and apparel to keepsakes, toys and accessories. Three months prior, Haiges, her husband and her father, Ralph, started renovating the 900-sq.-foot space from top to bottom. A year later, they moved to a 4,000-sq.-foot shop just a few doors down. Now, Haiges says, business is good, especially after launching the store’s website this year. “There were lots of glitches and things that we struggled with, but it was a smooth process once we got it going,” Haiges notes. “Now that it’s running properly and we’re getting orders, we’re able to work on marketing.”
—Samantha Sciarrotta
What are your bestselling brands for baby?
Tea Collection, Little Giraffe, Ergobaby, Aden + Anais, Petunia Picklebottom and Jellycat.
How about for girls and boys?
Tea Collection and Mayoral. Those two brads are great, and they hit different groups of people.
Do you sell any baby gear? Why?
We do strollers, car seats and diaper bags. For strollers, we do really well with Bob and Quinny. Maxi-Cosi is a top seller for car seats, and we do a lot with Petunia Picklebottom—it’s our number one diaper bag. Ergobaby is our top carrier.
How about toys?
We sell a lot of toys: Haba, Jellycat, Boon, Janod, Hape, Plantoys, Corolle dolls. We have lots of great books, as well as games, puzzles and drawing collections.
What’s been the best new brand added to the store’s mix in the last year?
Janod has been great addition to our toy collection. Ooh La La has been a great clothing line. It’s fun. It’s a little more different than what we’re used to.
Do you have a go-to brand?
Tea Collections is definitely our go-to brand
What are some of your top-selling accessories?
We do a ton with Wee Ones. Other than that, it’s always jewelry and sunglasses, like Teeny Tiny Optics and Cherished Moments. We do a lot with those. Another good brand that we do a lot with is Tadpole and Lily for boys, and Peppercorn Kids for girls.
How have your sales been so far this year?
They’re up from last year. We’re continuing to grow.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your business?
I would say online discounters. They carry some big items, like strollers and car seats, with very low markups. I don’t know how they manage. But we’re very competitive with pricing, and our customers enjoy that we offer a lot of one-on-one customer service that you can’t get online.
What’s the best part of your job?
Helping out customers that truly want to be helped. If they appreciate it, they’ll show it, and word-of-mouth is big because we don’t do a ton of advertising. I just want to have happy customers.
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