Marissa’s Room: STORE SPOTLIGHT PREMIER RETAILER Q&A

We interviewed one of the most darling and hot children’s boutiques in Edmond, Oklahoma this week – Marissa’s Room! Founder and owner, Melissa Morton, gave us the inside scoop on where the store’s name comes from, what fun events you can expect this summer, and knowing what her customers want from being a local for the past 20 years! Read below for more.

Marissa’s Room
3224 South Broadway #124
Edmond, OK 73013
405.285.7777

or go to http://www.marissasroom.com
for more information and locations

CHECK-IN and JOIN Marissa’s Room Facebook page and click HERE

1.    What was your inspiration behind opening your children’s clothing store – Marissa’s Room?
Melissa: When I was a little girl my Grandmother, Mother and Aunts looked for special things to buy for me. When I had my daughter, Marissa, my family was so excited to continue this tradition. We looked all over to find sweet things for her that you couldn’t find other places. We were so excited to dress her up! After shopping for her, I realized what was missing from the stores in our area. Our goal for Marissa’s Room is to provide unique and special gifts and clothing to our customers. 

2.    Tell us the inside scoop about any special events that you have planned at your store and e-boutique this coming summer and fun deals we can expect.
Melissa: We have only been open a month now, but our Grand Opening was a huge success! We made our own “Marissa’s Room” perfume and lotion and Hello Kitty visited. Edmond Krazy Daze’s sale is coming up at the end of the month and we will be sure to update you what days this will take place! During which, we will host a sidewalk sale. In addition to that, we are planning future special events for moms and grandparents.

3.    Tell us a secret/fun fact about your store that not that many would know?
Melissa: Marissa’s Room is a family run store. We all play a part in the running of this business. My entire family works at the store. I think sometimes, people are surprised by that. It takes all of us, my husband, my mom, my sister, and my brother! Marissa, my daughter, who is now 9 years-old has been going to market since she was 2! Her input matters and she knows what she likes. We make our decisions about products to sell and clothing lines to carry with our hearts. We care about our store and our customers. If it wasn’t for our customers, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love!

4.    Tell us…before you “had kids or grandkids, what is one thing you swore you’d never…?” Please share!
Melissa: I never thought I would be one of those parents that took pictures of everything that their child did. My poor daughter! Every moment of her life has been a photo-op. My grandfather used to babysit her for us. He would take pictures of her constantly. I am pretty sure she had the run of the house while he was watching her. The pictures he would share with us are priceless!

5.    Describe the neighborhood of your store location in Edmond, Oklahoma. Did you grow up in the area?
Melissa: We opened our store front location in Edmond, Oklahoma on June 4th of this year! This business is not new to us though, we have been in the children’s clothing business for over 7 years. Our new boutique is located in Edmond in Shoppes on Broadway. Edmond has over 80,000 people and is growing strong! Edmond is located in Central Oklahoma, and is a friendly and family oriented community. However, our customers are not limited to just the Edmond area; we have customers from all over Oklahoma and the world. My family and I have lived in Oklahoma for over 20 years.

6.    What would you say are the top 3 requested clothing and/or accessory items requested from your store this summer?
Melissa: We have had some very specific requests this summer. Customers know what they want. Our customers love the outfits from Le Top with matching hats. We also have a lot of requests for matching outfits in different sizes. Usually customers are trying to put together a cute family photo. Finding options for something like this is easy to do with Le Top. Another request is for special birthday outfits. 

7.    Tell us about a “special” moment that made your day working at your store.
Melissa: I love it when customers come in and are so excited to buy something special! It makes my day to see how excited they are to find that perfect gift or outfit. It reminds me of my family buying for my daughter.

8.    Where are the best/essential family hangouts and places to go around your store locations?
Melissa: Our Children’s Boutique is located in a busy area in the heart of Edmond. We are next to Bella Strada Salon and across the street from Chick-Fil-A!    

9.    What Le Top or rabbitmoon Spring/Summer 2011 collection is your store’s favorite and why?
Melissa: Oh, don’t make me pick! I love Le Top! My favorite is how they put detail on the back of the clothing. A lot of times we hang things backwards so customers can see the sweet detail. Le Top thinks of everything, and once a customer buys Le Top, they will come back for more!

Marissa’s Room
3224 South Broadway #124
Edmond, OK 73013
(405) 285-7777

or go to
http://www.marissasroom.com
for more information and locations

Check-in and join Marissa’s Room
Facebook page and click HERE

Read Full Post »

Photographer Marcy Maloy: An inside look at a professional photographer and working with Le Top!

Marcy and a Le Top model

The Le Top brand is known for working with vendors for years – one person we adore working with is our fashion photographer extraordinaire, Marcy Maloy. She photographs our seasonal campaigns but is also now part of the “Le Top family.” Marcy was on her way to Paris and we were able to squeeze out some of her time to interview her and give you and inside look from a photographer’s eyes on her passion for her career and photographing children. Read below for Part #1 of the interview. Tomorrow will be Part 2!

What advice can you offer parents for the top 3-5 tips on how to photograph a child? Portrait and snapshot.
Marcy:

1. Always be ready!!! i.e. parents should keep their camera very accessible at all times. Most digital cameras are small so no excuses…Keep it in your purse or in the kitchen or just always nearby…and make sure the batteries are charged.  Special moments come and go quickly.
2. Don’t direct your child. They will probably start hamming it up anyway, ruining a perfectly great moment…but if you just ignore them, they will usually go back to doing what they were doing. 
3. Never ask your child’s permission to take his or photo.  Just start snapping without making a big deal of it and if they complain ignore them.  The idea is to try to get them to forget you and go back into their world so you can get something special. If you take enough photos it will be like a reality show and they will eventually forget that you are documenting their lives…and remember, some of the most priceless moments are when they are crying or have a dirty face or are mad at you. I used to shoot my daughters when they were mad at me or at something, and that would make them Really Mad!!  I got some priceless moments.

What do you find challenging at a children’s photo shoot?
Marcy: The thing I find most challenging at a photo shoot is taking the energy of the room and the parents down so that I can get the child calm enough to capture a magical moment. Many times the parents are so nervous that their child won’t do “good” that they have ironically created a “no win” situation. Sometimes I will catch a parent off camera hissing at their kid to do “what the lady says.”

Tell us your most funny “stage mom” moment (a.k.a. crazy mom or parent trying to get their child to pose or do something funny).
Marcy: The most hysterical funny moment I remember is when I looked just behind me and a determined Dad was actually doing a somersault on the concrete floor to get his daughter to laugh! It was incredible! I asked him to please stop, the child is terrified, and has no idea why or what’s going on or why their parents are acting so weird. I can’t ban a parent from the set especially if a child is young. Because the presence of their mom or dad is a calming factor, even though the parent is actually the nervous one.

Read Full Post »

Design Perspectives: About a Boy

Our Fall 2010 Le Top baby collection features the “Puppy Park” navy velour group. In designing “Puppy Park” we were inspired by the luscious feel of velour and the revival of the classic boy color for fall – navy. Marykate, our head baby designer, started with some puppy sketches that inspired a darling print, irresistible “puppy face” accessories, and gorgeous baby boy outfits. What can be more classically “boy” than navy velour on a cool winter’s day? Check out the “Puppy Park” group on our website!”

shop Le Top baby’s fall 2010 collection here

Read Full Post »

3-Days until rabbitmoon online shop is open!

Get ready rabbitmoon kids clothes online boutique opening next Monday, September 20^th. Here is a sneak-peak of two of our designers’ favorite boy and girl outfits that will premiere this coming Monday.

Raglan Sleeve Shirred Top & Ruched Pocket Cord Pant from our Lotus Collection
TOP: Shirred shoulders and contrast lotus print band detail across this French pink soft cotton shirt offers chic style for the season. Contrast French rose raglan sleeves with tiered ruffle cuffs finish look. Layer under sweaters or can mix and match with pants or leggings. Back snaps for easy dressing.

BOTTOM: This soft cotton thin wale corduroy pant features 4 pocket styling accented with oversized pink buttons and ruched side pockets with grosgrain ribbon bows. Finished with contrast French rose crochet cuff detail. Elasticized waist for easy dressing.

Pieced Long Sleeve Shirt & French Terry Cargo Pant from our Guitar Collection
TOP: An essential soft cotton layering piece, this blue and striped pieced long sleeve pull over shirt features alternate navy and striped sleeves and orange twill tape detailing. Contrast navy ribbed neckline and embroidered electric guitar add fashionable accents. Navy shoulder sport snaps for easy dressing.

BOTTOM: Pull on these exceptionally soft French terry navy cargo pants with contrast twill tabs to create a versatile and comfy look. Features sporty orange twill tape stripe on pant legs, and faux contrast embroidered grommets on front pockets add stylish detail. Elasticized waist for easy dressing.

Rabbitmoon separates are easy to mix and affordable to match—we make it simple to dress kids with style. With our meticulous attention to detail, modern colors, durable fabrics and creative graphics, our shirts, pants, jumpers and tracksuits can be combined to suit any growing personality.

So what inspires rabbitmoon and its styles? The curious appearance of the rabbit in the moon has for centuries inspired folklore throughout the world. The magic and wonder that has stirred these tales is the inspiration behind our own rabbitmoon: a collection of clothing for children that is creative, stylish and unique.

In nearly every culture, it seems, there is a tale to tell of why the shadow of the rabbit appears in the full moon. From China to India to right here in the U.S.A., native people have for centuries passed down stories from generation to generation. At rabbitmoon, we’ve captured legends from around the world to describe the celebrated adventures of the rabbit and how he landed in the moon.

Here is one of our rabbitmoon tales – read it to your little one at bedtime and enjoy!

China: The Legend of the Jade Rabbit

The Legend of the Jade Rabbit, one of the most charming of international tales, belongs to the traditional Mid-Autumn Chinese Moon Festival. When the full moon rises, families gather to eat “moon cakes” and read stories and poems about the legends of the moon. An engaging and enlightening morality tale for children, The Legend of the Jade Rabbit tells the story of the rabbit in the moon:

Three magical wise men decide to test the character of a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The men turn themselves into desperate old beggars and ask the fox, the monkey and the rabbit for food. While the fox and the monkey have food to spare, they refuse to share. But the helpful and generous rabbit, who has nothing to give, volunteers his own tasty self by leaping into a burning campfire to roast himself for their dinner. The men, who are not actually hungry, are overwhelmed by rabbit’s self-sacrifice and generosity and grant him immortal life, sending him to live on the moon in the palace as Jade Rabbit.

Read Full Post »

Growing up Sesame Street

Growing up, I almost never missed Sesame Street – Big Bird was one of the best characters and I loved his talks with Mr. Hooper – and oh, who couldn’t fall in love with Cookie Monster, clumsy Grover, or snuggly Mr. Snuffleupagus?  My boyfriend’s partner Brett and his wife Melissa took their two kids to a Sesame Street event this past week. I remember last year (November 2009), New York City (where I live) proclaimed November 10th “Sesame Street Day” in New York. Who wouldn’t want to? After all, New York City is the inspiration for Sesame Street. The brownstone at 123 Sesame Street was inspired by the buildings along Amsterdam Avenue. The Sesame Street subway station was modeled after the original 72nd Street subway station. (In case you didn’t know, Sesame Street just last year, celebrated its 40^th birthday!)

Harris, 3-years-old and Evyn, 17-months-old. Adorable right?

Hearing about Brett and Melissa taking their kids to see Sesame Street made me start to wonder:  Do our favorite Sesame Street characters as children provide a looking glass into our personalities as adults/parents?

I’m not really sure if anyone has done this research, but it makes sense that there would be connections between our favorite Sesame Street characters as children and now as adults. For example, my mom says she always has loved Oscar the Grouch because she says she can be grouchy. Or even my nephew Wade used to love Elmo and his personality always reminds me of being ticklish and giggly.

It’s more likely that we indentify with the character we’re similar to. To be honest, there are so many characters now on Sesame Street; it would be impossible not to relate to one! According to Dr. William Braun, a child psychoanalyst in NYC, “Oscar has positive attributes, too. Even though he’s the pessimist, there’s something that we like about him. You can take that negatively, but we all have these characters in us. We might have a more predominant personality type, but every once in a while we’re all a little Oscar, or we’re a little Elmo.”

I love the humanity of Sesame Street. I personally feel it connects to any kid anywhere in the world, and every parent, grandchild and even grandparents! I look forward to watching it with my kids one day. Re-live some of your best Sesame Street video and click here:

http://www.sesamestreet.org/onair/history/videos

Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

Read Full Post »

STORE SPOTLIGHT – HEAR ALL ABOUT IT!

We are launching “Store Spotlight” today and will feature a premiere le·top specialty retail store each week.  Read more for an exclusive Q&A and “sneak peak” images of our featured store of the week! 

This week we interviewed one of New York City’s finest boutiques, Granny-Made.  Visit our Facebook page @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/le-top/117553138255670 to preview our new video mini webisode introducing owner, Michael Rosenberg and head buyer, Adele Salzberg from Granny-Made!

We want to give you the inside scoop on Granny-Made’s latest and greatest news, and what YOU don’t know about one of New York’s hottest children’s stores.  

1.     Granny-Made is a distinctive store name – does it have a special history?
Michael: Well yes, I named it after my grandmother.  She was my Muse and my Inspiration.  I left the corporate world in ‘85 to start the business with her sweater designs.  I remember it was a hand-made catalogue of her sweater designs…I had a small contractor who produced them, and then I decided to advertise [the product] in The New York Times, The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar.  The press had a great reaction and the brand took off.  The store was named after her and actually my brother and I came up with the name!

2.     Describe the neighborhood your store is in. 
Adele: The upper side of Manhattan demographically has more young families with children than any other neighborhood in New York.  It is ethnically mixed and there are a lot of multiple births – lots of twins and even some triplets!  There are a lot of great schools, so it is a very desirable neighborhood.  It is the perfect location for a children’s store such as Granny-Made.

3.     Who is your target customer? Do you specialize in any certain types of product?
Adele: What I have found when I started working at Granny-Made is that Michael’s idea was to have very unique store with women’s sweaters. As I saw what the neighborhood was becoming over the years because of so many families with children, I thought it would be only natural to take an approach of [including] childrenswear.  What we wanted to create was a very special store where you could find merchandise that no one else carried.  We have now become the “go to store” for gifts, special occasion and novelty.  My background has always been novelty, which is why in particular le·top performs so well, because no one does novelty better than you [le•top].

4.     What products do your clientele like the most?
We do 20% volume toys, 20% is dresses and 20% of our volume is onesies and our business is anywhere from newborn up to size 8 for childrenswear.

5.     Any celebrity customers over the years or do you have any celebs buying right now?
Adele: Oh! Lot’s and lots! Well, we have had Julia Roberts, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rosallini, Frank Langella, Richard Kind, and Cynthia Nixon to name a few!

6.     What’s coming up for Granny-Made? I heard you are moving your store location – what will the new store offer?
Adele: The new store is on Amsterdam Avenue between 82^nd and 83^rd Street and the new address is: 467 Amsterdam Avenue.  I feel that as the children grow, we are growing, and we will now be offering up to size 10.  We’re also have started to offer christening items, which is not available at that many stores. When people ask for something – we bring it in!  We are also going to branch out into special little sparkly shoes to match the cute dresses we carry – pretty much whatever the customer wants, we will do.

Michael: We will also have small furniture, toy boxes, little chairs, something more unique, such as customized rocking chairs.

7.      You have a remarkable history and have been around 25 years, do you have any special plans or events for your anniversary?
Michael:  We will be making the new move to 82^nd Street!  We plan on having a celebration after Labor Day with an opening party and champagne! Stay tuned.

8.     What do you feel are the three biggest keys to your 25 year success?
Adele: Well…we are very unique in that:

•   We give amazing customer service – people know that when they come here they will be properly taken care of.
•   The quality of our merchandise is extraordinary – in fact, the Zagat has rated us as “E: extraordinary”.
•   From the beginning of the sale ’til the end, it is all about the SERVICE.

9.     How do you select your products for the store? 
Adele: Well, I shop all of the [childrens’] shows. Whenever a new vendor calls, I will always take the call and listen to what they can offer.  I also shop new resources. The business is constantly evolving and you need to constantly bring in new designers to keep it fresh. We are always one of the first to test a new designer.

Beautiful pieces from our rabbit moon 'passage' and 'fleur-de-lys' collections

10.     What is one trend you’re currently seeing with customers?
Michael: Our girls dress business has exploded! We are surrounded by little girl’s dresses in here!

Adele: In fact, the le·top girls’ dresses were among the first tested in our store, and have bought so many of them. When it comes to little boys, they don’t want the “cutesy” things, parents nowadays sometimes want them to look like little men.

Michael: With that said, it is not that we resist this trend [of little men], but little boys have plenty of time to look like dad.

Adele: Yes, we try to keep a balance between “cutesy” and “little men”, but for girls – they want it VERY girly.  What we hear a lot about our dresses from young women who walk into the store is, “I wish you had that [a little girl dress] in my size!”  The dresses we carry are very girly. We don’t want our little girls to look like they are going to a cocktail party; we want them to look like they are going to the Nutcracker [big smile].

11.     If you had one piece of advice for someone entering children’s retail today, what would it be?
Adele:

1. Do your homework.
2. Find out who your customers is.
3. Shop stores and see what is out there.
4. Talk to your vendors – GET the information and don’t go into it blind. Research is one the most important things when opening a business.
5. Talk to the other stores on the block – find out traffic patterns.
6. Walk around the neighborhood – see how many baby carriages, how many toddlers, and do your homework!

12.     You probably have seen thousands of mommies and their children come in and out of your store doors – what is one of the funniest things you have heard come out of parent or child’s mouth?
Adele: “I Want IT, I want it, I WANT IT!”

13.     What are your top 3 fashionista tips for dressing a child?
Adele:

1. When it comes to toddler girls – they only wear 3 colors: pink, pink and PINK. So, make sure you have pink!
2. When it comes to boys, they like dinosaurs and trucks.
3. It is important to have the right accessories for your perfect outfit – the dress, the hat, the tights, and the sweater – the perfect assortment to complete the outfit!  That’s what is so great about le·top is that you have all of the merchandise to “build the right package/outfit”.

14.     And your #1 kid fashion “no-no”?
Adele: Dress your child as children – they don’t stay children very long!

Michael: The reason we carry up to size 10 is because lots of children can wear bigger size childrenswear, and until they get up to the teen years where parents don’t have a lot of say on what their kids wear, parents still want that “say” and influence on their clothing. For us that is important.

15.    What is your best or most memorable moment in your store?

Michael and Adele [together]: That is hard! Every day is a special day here.

Adele:I just love it when they come in here and tell us they love our shop. I love it when they just get off the plane from Oklahoma and they say, “This is my first stop and I come to your store first.”  Every day, just the joy of making the customer happy and making the sale is Marvelous.

Swimsuit from the le•top Gone Fishin' Spring collection

Michael: Yes, it is truly gratifying. Now we are seeing the children that were growing up the last two dozen years coming in here now with their own children, and now their parents are grandparents… just moving on to the next generation is great!

16.    What collection or piece from le•top do you love right now from the Spring 2010 collection?
Adele: We love your duck collection [for Spring].  Nobody does ducks better! For Fall 2010, I can’t wait for your bomber aviator jacket to hit the store.

Visit our Facebook page @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/le-top/117553138255670 and put a face with the name from our latest interview.  Preview our latest “Store Spotlight” video webisode introducing owner, Michael Rosenberg and head buyer and connoisseur, Adele Salzberg.

Granny Made
381 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10024
212.496.1222
www.grannymade.com

Read Full Post »

A Birthday Party for Dogs!

Personalized Gifts with Dog Biscuit Recipes for Fresh Breath, Fleas Be-Gone and more

Our loyal readers should know by now just how much we love dogs at le•top – so we can’t help but share our cute dog stories with you.  Dogs have always inspired us!  At this time of the year check out our puppy, please! collection while we share puppy celebrations that bring smiles to our faces.

Sylvia, our EDI expert, is mommy to a rambunctious 1 year old black lab named Cosmo…as in Kramer from the Seinfeld show. (déjà vu)  Cosmo was a rescue dog, and Sylvia was 1 of 7 chosen hand picked mommies from over 100 applicants that vied for the chance to adopt Cosmo, his brothers and sisters, and his “biological” mom.  This group of chosen mommies, and the foster mom who rescued the matriarch and her 5 day old pups, have banded together – creating a magical extended family.  They have become so close and are so touched by these pups’ story that they find it hard to separate these lucky dogs for too long.

Every three months these special owners bring the dogs back together for a “play date” of sorts.  This quarter they commemorated the pups’ first birthday – and they truly celebrated in style!  Sylvia baked custom cookies for each of the dogs, inscribed their name in doggie-safe frosting, and brought birthday hats for all the dogs to wear.  It was, needless to say, quite a fun birthday party.  By the time Sylvia got home, Cosmo was pooped!  He walked into the house and immediately passed out on the floor….What a fun day!

 

If you live in the SF Bay Area and are interested in donating, fostering or adopting an animal please check out the The Milo Foundation in San Rafael, CA. They found a happy home for Cosmo and his family.

 

Read Full Post »