Both owning a business, and the retail industry, were both foreign territory when we launched Kai Kids two years ago this month. We’ve had lots of stumbles and successes and are always trying to learn and try new things, one of which has been hosting our own little trunk shows in Toronto for our local customers.

We’ve now had five or six over the past year and really enjoy meeting our clients face to face and watching their kids grow. Once in a while we get to see some of them dressed in our organic clothes, clutching one of our made-in-Canada non-toxic teethers or toting the safe sippy they bought from us. That always  makes us smile!

We are once again trying something new, a twist on our usual trunk show. This weekend in Toronto, we are joining forces with a friend, and fellow parentpreneur and eco biz person, Barb of Little Footprints Toys, another online store based here in Toronto. Together we are hosting the Eco Family Holiday Sale, carting our stock of organic clothing, safe toys, natural skincare, litterless lunch gear and accessories plus her inventory of fun, sustainable toys and games for the whole family, to our usual location on the Danforth.

We’ll both have some real deals, just in time for holiday shopping, plus some hot new products on display. Yesterday I received shipment of made-in-Canada cozy bamboo fleece sleep sacs for babies with sweet elephant and bird appliques from Nap & Nod in Vancouver! I haven’t yet had time to post them to our Kai Kids online store, but we will definitely have them at our sale on Saturday.

Little Footprints Toys will have lots of cool stuff for the little ones to try out and amuse themselves with, plus we will have a children’s musician on hand to lead a singing circle every hour on the half hour from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to help keep the kids occupied while parents shop!  And there might even be a pot of warm apple cider brewing!

So please come, join us to celebrate the season and score some great eco deals, Sat. Nov. 21, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1390 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. (near Greenwood Avenue). We hope to see you!

As soon as Halloween costumes are put away and the kids have settled down from their sugar high (Halloween and Easter are the only times of the year they get even a tiny bit of candy), we need to start planning for our big show next week. Next Friday and Saturday Nov. 6 and 7, Kai Kids will be at our booth at our favourite sale/trade show: Toronto’s popular Children’s Trunk Show.

It is a really well organized, well attended show featuring amazing products made and sold by Canadian mompreneurs. Everything is high quality, unique, gorgeous and geared to babies, moms and kids. We are one of the few retailers there, as most booths feature suppliers who make their own items.

We always enjoy the crowd, meeting new customers and chatting with loyal, repeat customers and networking with the other vendors.  This time out, we’ll have our new baby boy in tow so that should make things interesting!

So please, if you are in the Toronto area, come on out and support us, and the show.  It’s a great chance to get started on your holiday shopping and you know you’ll be supporting parents in small, local businesses. Plus, there are always lots of great deals!  This year, we’ll be having a big sale on the ever useful, durable, super-safe Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottles.   Get them while they last!

details:

• when: Fri. Nov. 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sat. Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• where: The Fermenting Room in  Toronto’s Distillery District: Buildings 6 & 7
  55 Mill Street.
• www.thedistillerydistrict.com

Hope to see you there!

This belly of mine is getting big now (only a month or so to go until Baby #3 arrives!) and Peter and I are getting ready for our last big shopping show of the spring season!

This Friday, May 29, Kai Kids will be at the always fabulous Children’s Trunk Show at the Distillery District in Toronto.   This will be our third time at the Trunk Show and it is definitely our favourite shopping show: well organized, featuring gorgeous unique products for babies and kids, and a bunch of really nice parents: both vendors and customers.

We will be there with our Kai Kids booth and will be hauling our pretty, eco maternity and nursingwear so you can try it on,  our standard bestselling stock such as Bambu, Bamboosa and BabySoy, plus a bunch of excellent new items we’ve added to our online store:

•  handmade bamboo and organic cotton baby rattles
• new stainless steel feeding trays, perfect for baby
• organic mesh produce bags just in time for farmer’s markets
• natural, chemical-free hand sanitizer
• new spring styles of sweet and funky non-toxic baby and toddler shoes from

The Children’s Trunk Show is an exclusive shopping event featuring high-quality fashion, jewellery and art made by moms and geared exclusively towards kids and families. 50+ vendors are hand-selected to ensure a wide variety of goods—so you’re sure to find unique and useful gifts for all the children in your life in one place.

Come on out and join us this Friday, May 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in the Fermenting Cellar at the Distillery District, 55 Mill Street, Toronto. We’d love to see you there!

If you live in and around Toronto, please come join us tomorrow at the Temple Sinai Nursery School’s 7th Annual Boutique Night in north Toronto.

We at Kai Kids will be there, offline, with our plethora of ethically-made, eco-friendly products for babies and toddlers, plus there will be many other companies selling women’s and children’s clothing, giftware, jewelry, stationery, personalized accessories, home decor, and more. Guests can also purchase raffle tickets as there are lots of prizes to be won.

Come on out to The Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto, 210 Wilson Ave., at Avenue and Wilson.

We hope to see you there!

Don’t forget that tomorrow (Sat. April 4) is our big Kai Kids Spring Sale in Toronto!  We hope you can make it to check out our new earth-friendly products for families and take advantage of some special one-day only sales:

• BornFree baby bottles: 20% off
• Klean Kanteen water bottles: $2 off each bottle
• Babysoy: 20% off
• Jessica Scott eco maternity wear: 30% off
• Jolie Maman soy nursing tops: 30% off
• Little Green Star slogan T’s and onesies: 30% off
• Pip Essentials organic cotton blankets and sleepers: 25% off
• Fleurville diaper bags: 30% off
• Echoes in the Attic purses and totes: 15% off

1390 Danforth Ave, north side (near Greenwood Ave), 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.Hope to see you there!

I am so glad to see the sun shine and the last of the snow melt! It has envigourated me with a renewed zest for life and business!  I’ve gone into planning mode and have been organizing some in-person shopping shows around Toronto for Kai Kids this spring.

The first will be our own, once again on the Danforth, on Saturday April 4th, in an early celebration of Earth Day!  Peter and I will be in our usual  funky space  at 1390 Danforth along with a bunch of new products we’ve added to Kai Kids boutique lately:

• natural, non-toxic and chemical-free skincare from TruKid
• Bamboo scratch mittens from Bamboobino
•  natural antibacterial hand sanitizer from CleanGeorge
• recycled cotton shopping bags from Bamboosa
• cute crib shoes for babies made from non-toxic leather by BabySoles
• gorgeous cable knit bamboo blankets from Bamboosa
• a fun new design (Town Scene) of Bok Handmade Wooden Blocks from Petit Flaneur

plus a lot more!

Come on out and say hello to us and check out our new lines, ask questions, and meet other green-minded parents. Please feel free to bring strollers and kids, as the store is stroller-friendly, has a couch for nursing, and we always bring lots of puzzles, colouring books and toys to keep your little ones occupied while you shop!

Details: Saturday April 4, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., 1390 Danforth Avenue (north side, just East of Greenwood and West of Monarch Park Avenue). For more information, please email us at info@kaikids.com

Hope to see you there!

Kai Kids is once again hosting a shopping day here in Toronto on the Danforth. This will be our third, right in time for the holidays!

Peter and I will be at 1390 Danforth from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 6 with all of our organic, eco-friendly wares for your family! We will have some special sales to encourage you to get your holiday shopping done, and to help us clear some stock to make way for new arrivals in the new year!

We’ll also have some lovely new eco-friendly products, including funky winter hats made from recycled sweaters (our boys look so cute in them!), and fun animal organic hooded towels and sleep sacks from Toronto’s 3 Sprouts.

As usual, the store is stroller-friendly, we’ll have some toys for your toddlers to play with while you shop, and we have a big, comfy couch that is a perfect spot to nurse if your baby feels the need.

For more information, please feel free to email us at info@kaikids.com

Please come on out and tell your friends!

So far in our travels to shopping shows we haven’t yet left the GTA, but this week we are heading to lovely Oakville!  If you live in Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Milton etc., we invite you to join us at the Living and Giving Show, this Thursday Nov. 27!

Peter and I will be there with boxes of Klean Kanteens, stainless steel food containers, natural skincare and organic clothes for wee ones and pregnant and nursing mamas as well.  Please come out and have a look at some of our new stock, such as sweet winter hats made from recycled wool sweaters! Some items are so new I haven’t even had time to post them to our online store yet.

Kai Kids will be at the Living and Giving Show from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. at Otellos Banquet Hall on Royal Windsor Drive, Oakville. Hope to see you there!

Just got back from a busy and fun day today at the Children’s Trunk Show in Toronto. We hauled boxes and suitcases full of our Kai Kids products – everything from natural rubber pacifiers to organic cotton sleepers to non-toxic teething toys and natural skincare. It’s always interesting to see what sells in person versus online.

Today, the big sellers were two of our most popular items online as well: the Ringley Natural Teething Toy and the Organic Teething Bon Bon TM. Both I’m proud to say, were invented by moms here in Canada! I love finding unique, local products and partnering with other mompreneurs! It’s a win/win/win: great natural products our customers feel good about, plus sales for our mom suppliers, and sales for us at Kai Kids too.

But we also had some new products that sold like crazy today. They are so new, I haven’t even posted them online to our Kai Kids store yet! But if they sell as well online as today, I think I’m going to have to put another order in soon for both of them, which is great!

One is a range of safe, eco-friendly bibs, aprons, lunch bags and splash mat from Mimi the Sardine. Really cute stuff, with an eco-friendly acrylic coating that makes them wipeable and machine washable. The best part is they contain no PVC, plastic or lead, and the designs are bright and fun. Kids and parents love them.

The other line that did well was Toronto’s 3 Sprouts organic hooded towels ( a chicken and a monkey) and organic sleep sacs. Gorgeous, unique, very modern-looking and excellent pricepoints. Stay tuned as I’m going to add both to our online boutique as soon as our weekend of shows is finished!

So many amazing products there made by moms! Unfortunately, not many were eco-friendly

Today we are busy getting organized for a busy couple of days! Tomorrow and Friday we will have our Kai Kids booth at the wonderful Children’s Trunk Show held at the Distillery District here in Toronto. It’s an amazing arrray of mom-owned businesses featuring gorgeous, unique products for babies and kids.

We did our first one in May and it is a very busy show and the quality of all of the vendors is very high. So, if you are thinking of doing a little Christmas shopping and live in the area, I ‘d highly recommend it. And of course, we’ll be there with our collection of organic, eco-friendly products for babies and kids. Please stop by our booth and say hello!

On Saturday, we will be in the same place for another show, the brand-new Sustainable Style Show! This one isn’t a kids show, there might be one or two other baby vendors there besides us, but there will be a lot
eco friendly fashion and beauty vendors catering to all lifestyles and budgets. All vendors have met one or more criteria, ensuring that you are presented with truly sustainable options. The Sustainable Style Show is a one-stop shop for those looking to put their wallet where their heart is this holiday season – for the planet.

The event will be held at Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, 55 Mill Street, building # 6 and #7, Toronto ON. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission is $10.

We hope to see you there!