Girl Design Board

Helping you bring your inspiration to life is what we love to do at Daisy Baby.  I am so happy to finally have the ability to put my thoughts on a board with our newest team member, Erin Canady, who is getting her masters in interior design from GW.  I love letting her flex her design muscles. 

So this board has some of my favorite things. We have been killing it with the Newport Cottages Beverly Collection. It has such a great Hollywood glam look-- luxe, rich and beautiful. You can always make Newport Cottages your own by selecting your colors and your fabrics. I think that one reason it's my go to line. 

Then of course we had to add a Monte Glider. Every time I put it on my sales floor it does so well. The modern play on the wingback is so charming. We recently added BlaBla to our offerings. I often struggle with finding the perfect mobile. There offering are sweet & whimsical. We love them.

Transition this room to BIG. You can still get this same look by just adding a Bed.

Daisy Baby Today

I asked Dana, mom of three and our favorite baby boutique proprietor, where her store is now, and where she's wanting to go. This was her response:

When we first opened we had 2000 square feet of really big wonderful store. Now, post 2009, we're a little smaller. Our store is just under 1000 square feet, and we make every square foot work. Now, we're more about services, and we focus on three main things: Design, Registry, and Gift Giving. We're offering service, really customized bedding, design, every single aspect of that room. Carpet, paint, lighting, window treatments. We provide very personal service and we're there for you every step of the way.

On the floor - beyond the white crib!

Where we really want to go now is to have Daisy Baby be a hub of the baby community in Bethesda. We'd like to have talks in the store, bringing in community members to talk about things that women are facing while they're pregnant. We want to be that resource, get that Daisy Baby Moms Group going. Yes, you can give your money to Amazon or Buy Buy Baby, but when you register locally, you are giving your money back into your own community. You're getting not only a completely different level of service, you're getting a business that has a stake in the community you live in - 6 years down the road we're donating to your child's school auction. We're that place you can hold an event, where you can find other moms in the community and just a great place for networking.

I want to keep getting my hands on every product I could possibly sell and find that perfect mix for the store. One of my primary goals right now is getting that well-edited list of all the things that I think a growing family should have. Our next piece will be going online. I'm hoping in the next month and a half to open our new high-functioning website. Not to get sales in Texas, but since this is how many women shop these days, they want to do their research online and I want to be that resource for them. I want that there for the community.

A client's nursery, after going through that journey together!

Daisy Baby will always be a community store. In this new realm of bringing the cities back to being walkable, bringing small business and service oriented business and great products, we want to be competitive. We need to let people know what we really do well, being that live review, that service-oriented shop that is there for you for whatever you need for your baby.

The History of Daisy Baby

We've been very busy lately! So why not a bit of history to kick off the month of June? Here's a great interview with Dana, the mind behind the duck, for your information and entertainment! Without further ado, everything you ever wanted to know about the history of Daisy Baby.

Why has Dana been busy? This is Ford, her third little wonder.

Who started Daisy Baby and Kids?
Daisy Baby and Kids is truly the brainchild of Andrea Paro. One day when she was pregnant with her daughter Tallulah, she said she envisioned a yellow duck on top of a white box with a ribbon, and from that vision Daisy Baby was born. The simplicity with a little pop of sweetness is where we were and where we are. 

When did it start?
It started during that boom of the baby industry which I think really began when Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter Apple was born in 2004. It was the first time we saw publicity shots of a baby's room being featured as much as someone's home, and it was the first time we saw a modern nursery like that. That's when you saw the design of nursery pushing the boundaries beyond a Winnie the Pooh theme. 

What were your first lines back then?
One of the first lines we saw was Serena and Lily back when it was really just Serena and Lily. And that's when we started 10 years ago, making the nursery put the mark of you on it, starting to make sure it reflected you and your home and the celebration of your child. Also at the very cusp of this business was Bugaboo. When they entered this marketplace, strollers didn't look like they do today. We take it for granted now that they have these beautiful strollers that are just lovely and functional and have a bassinet that looks like a pram and the design and innovation in this industry is just beautiful. Every time I see a man hunched over an umbrella stroller and pushing it up the hill it looks like it's more trouble to have it than it would be without it! The way strollers have changed is phenomenal.

Bugaboo Donkey

What do you think is special about Daisy Baby?
It's about the babies, and everyone loves the babies really, but we're also all about mom. What about mom? How is she doing? How is she feeling? How is she handling this time in her life? We kiss the babies and talk about sleep and breastfeeding and all of that. We follow that journey with the mom, from the first time she comes in the store and doesn't really know what she's wanting and we talk about it, research it, figure out her style and what she's after. We go through that process with her, ordering and it coming in and getting it installed and all of that, it's so special and neat.

What's a really special experience that comes from being part of Daisy Baby?
We had a baby come in the other day, about 9 years old. It just blows me away. Seeing that baby whose nursery we designed, and having that connection with the store and these parents still. The real babies, the Daisy Babies. All these little babies, I've watched these moms from being pregnant and through the birth and I love hearing the birth stories. I love listening about their water breaking to the moment they crowned all the way up until they come in here and bring the babies and I can say, "Sit down, have a seat and nurse here and chat with us." When the little ones come back and I watch them grow and maybe they think my name is Daisy instead of Dana, I'm the lady with the candy jar. I'm not a millionaire yet but my millions are counted in the babies I get to see grow up and all of the joy I get from having this little boutique in Bethesda. 

What's changed about the boutique world in the past 10 years since you started?
When I found out about the boutique movement I was just leaving Los Angeles and it was really col to know abuot these small businesses who were finding interesting lines, not everything being so cookie cutter. I'm really proud to be a part of this movement. Ten years later though, I feel like there's barely any boutiques left at all. Everything is all internet and big box stores. I think about this side of Bethesda and I think in another 10 years there will be no boutiques left, just restaurants and chains.

What is the most important part of having a storefront? Why not an internet retailer?
When I think about my store, I'm proud of every single piece in here. It's like curating a museum, when you walk in, what do you smell? What do you see? What do your eyes light on? It takes focus and creativity and a certain gift and I love the fact that I can give that out and I appreciate that. I feel like it's important in the world - it's a unique piece of why a boutique is important and I'm glad I exist in that realm. I love when people come in here and they can touch and feel the things they see online. You can read fifty reviews but Dana is a review and I have used all of this and all my moms come and tell me how it is and this is what I live and breathe and sleep, this is what I DO.

What's unique about the baby industry?
Every day women come into our store and I love it, they're just shocked at how much has changed since they had a baby - 25 years ago, 10 years ago, 6 months ago. "This didn't exist when I had my baby!" That is one of the neat parts about this industry, those changes. When I think about Chewbeads, a woman invented a necklace babies can pull on and chew on. It's not trying to get kids to pull on your necklace, but babies will be pulling and chewing on our  necklaces or hair so why not give them something safe to do that with? 

Chewbeads

A friend of mine, Riche Holmes, started a business here in Bethesda - Bambini Wear. Now she's working with Martha Stewart and it's this whole big thing. Moms inventing things, products that people live in. People designing products that weren't there before, modern cribs and carriers that are ergonomically correct and better for bonding and baby and mom. And at the end of the day it's about making everything cute and fun and just reflecting your personality. 

Bambini Wear

One last quick question - how many Daisy babies' lives have you been a part of?
This computer program has only been with us since 2009, so it's missing some of the early years. But I've got almost 6000 clients that have come through this door since then. I've recorded 3000 orders. I don't know how many little babies that is, but for a little store like this, it's great seeing all those children come through here and grow up and it's just wonderful.

Just a pic of why Christina's been busy - I moved to Hawaii!