What’s Selling at Seedlings in Tampa

When Marlene Maseman started out eight years ago, she was making organic baby food. Her show kitchen expanded into Seedlings, a 4,000 square-foot retailer in Tampa, FL. With a base in organic and natural products, the store now carries upscale brands across all categories from apparel to gear, gifts to furniture. Known for its semi-annual Baby Shower event, educational classes and signature gift bag, the store is a staple in the Tampa area for new moms and gift-givers alike. We spoke with Maseman about what’s hot down in Florida right now.

Who is your typical customer?
We have a nice mix. Mostly it’s new expectant parents, but a good portion of business comes from grandparents. It’s Florida, so there are lots of people coming down to visit grandparents. There is also a large population of people from South America, Canada and Europe who need things while here and we try to carry brands that cater specifically to them.

What are your best-selling apparel brands?
We do really well with layette. Aden + Anais, Magnificent Baby and Feather Baby are big sellers.

What are your best-selling gear brands?
Uppababy, Maxi-Cosi and Bugaboo are our most popular brands.

What’s the best new brand you’ve introduced in the last year?
We’ve brought in pieces made by local artists. We’ve got knit blankets, home-made bunny rabbits and hats that are hand-crafted and amazing.

Do you organize events?
We do a lot of events. Twice a year is our semi-annual Baby Shower. It draws between 700-1,200 people. We get sponsors behind it, vendors to come out and we do swag bags with purchase. Food caterers also come in and set up. We also do about $8,000-$12,00 in giveaways and raffle prizes. The event generates a lot of buzz and is usually featured on the news.

We also do holiday events. So for Halloween we’ll have kids come in and make slime at the kitchen counter. For Easter we usually get the Easter Bunny in here or get real live bunnies and have a photographer come in to shoot. Christmas is something we’ve become known for—people say our Santa is the best around and our photographer is amazing, so we’ve had to book slots to get pictures taken with Santa.

We’ve also done things like book readings and classes.

What’s the best part of your job?
I love buying. It’s really fun to see what’s out there. I also love working with customers and educating them. People come in and they’re looking to learn about products because they’re new parents. I’ve been through the whole run of it and I like sharing what I’ve learned along the way with them and helping them.