Five months in, going strong, Baby Mine celebrates with grand opening

Five months after the first customer walked in its doors, East Grand Rapids’ Baby Mine has weathered its first fashion season and will celebrate with a grand opening event.

The baby and children’s boutique at 2237 Wealthy St. SE in Gaslight Village offers boys’ and girls’ clothes sizes newborn to 5T, unusual gifts for new moms, soft toys for toddlers, and more. Many items are unique to the store and not found in other stores in the area, says co-owner Kimberly Gill, who opened the store in October 2013 with her daughter Bethany Smith.

Gill spoke to Rapid Growth between appointments at an East Michigan buyer’s show this week, where she and Smith were busy selecting fall 2014 fashions and toys for the store. The spring selections will start filling the racks next month.

“When we started Baby Mine, we didn’t know how much inventory to buy,” Gill says. “We started a little late for winter inventory, so we had a bit more than if we’d opened in August, but we had to fill the store. We’re getting a lot of people buying baby gifts.

“The toys have been selling great, the Constructive Eating has been selling really well; Rubbabu soft cars and trucks have been selling really well, and the Valco Doll Prams have been selling really well,” she adds. “We cater to the kids (while Mom shops), have snacks for them, cars and strollers they can play with, and they fill up the doll pram with things like a shopping cart and they love it.”

And Gill says they’ve had many requests for kids’ shoes, so summer shoes will be part of the shop’s spring and summer offerings, along with clothing, bathing suits, hats, and Babiators, a line of sunglasses for infants and children.

“We are not outrageously priced,” Gill says. “We try to find clothing that appeals to everybody’s taste and wallet, and try to have price ranges so that anybody that comes in can find a gift.”

The grand opening event is Thurs., Feb. 27, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m.

Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Baby Mine.

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Cool kids’ clothes, cuddly toys, trendy gifts for moms – Baby Mine brings it all to Gaslight Village