Attention Canadian Moms! We're now shipping to Canada ~ Beta Testing

Attention Canadian Moms! We are testing-the-waters, so to speak, with regard to Canadian orders.  We have many Canadian Moms who follow our blog and window-shop in our online store, but cannot order from us.  I get at least a few emails each week asking if we can make an acception to our 'Only Ship in the US policy.'  So for the benefit of our wonderful Canadian Mom followers, I have decided to give it a try.


So here is how the Beta Testing it is going to work...  If you are a Canadian Mom who would like to purchase any of the non-baby products in our store, please contact me via email or use the Live Chat link found at the bottom of every page in our online store.  The ordering process will be handled in a manual method while we are in the testing stage, so go ahead and browse around in the store, making a note of which product , sizes, colors, quantities, etc that you would like to order.  We will then gather those items and calculate the exact shipping rate for that order.  Once you approve the order & price details, we can arrange payment via credit card over the telephone or via online payment through Paypal.


There are some restrictions to orders being shipped to Canada, such as:

    ~ No baby or children's products will be allowed because there are just too many particular laws related to international shipments of childrens products for us to keep up with since we carry so many different childrens product brands.  

    ~ Most of our mother related products can be shipped to Canada (see the list below) so you will be able to order any of the items on our 'approved list' (below).   

    ~ There is a $5.00 (USD) processing fee added to all orders being shipped to Canada.  This fee covers shipping insurance, delivery confirmation, and the extra time it takes us to process the order because of the additional paperwork that is required here in the US when shipping to Canada.

    ~ All orders must ship via Priority Mail International.  Although orders may qualify for 1st Class shipping based on the weight, Priority Mail International is the lowest rate that offers track-ability, which is needed for packages to be insured.

    ~ The full purchase price of the order (less shipping & handling fee's) will be declared in the shipping documents and the customer is responsible for all duties fee's.




Our 'Approved List of Items' that we may ship to Canada are: (subject to change at any time)


Baby Be Mine
C-Panty
aMAMAnte
Prenatal Cradle
Earth Mama Angel Baby (limited items)
Coobie Bra's
DynaBelly / Zero2Nine Maternity & Nursing Items
SproutShell Infant Carrier Covers/Nursing Covers/Shopping Cart Covers
UnderCover Mama nursing tops
and other pregnancy, maternity, breastfeeding items on an item-by-item basis




If this works out well, we will eventually reconfigure our system to allow Canadian orders directly in our Online Store.  To place an order just gather a list of what you would like to order and either send me an email or try our Live Chat link at the bottom of every page.

Subscribe to The Baby Store Plus Blog via Email

© 2009-2011 The Baby Store Plus, All Rights Reserved

I am so Pooped! ~ We're Moving to our New Location...

I am so Pooped! For the last several days we have been moving to our new warehouse/shipping center.  That means that we are moving the contents of our 3200 square foot brick & mortar store to our 2400 square foot warehouse/shipping center!  It is not as cramped as it sounds, in the warehouse we can put things on our metal shelves that are over 6 feet high.  Plus we don't need all of the display area that we had to have in our brick & mortar store.

If you are new here, let me bring you up to speed...we opened our brick & mortar store in a small 1400 sq ft shop in February 2008.  After just one year we outgrew that space and moved to a larger 3200 sq ft store one block away.  In April of 2010 we added an online store to our business.  By August our online store had grown so rapidly that I was working my fanny off trying to keep up with two separate businesses.  We thought they would function as one business but it soon became obvious that each operation has it's own unique needs and the only thing they really shared was the inventory.  My small office had been taken over by my shipping supplies and I was going nuts. 

With the economy in our small town really taking a hit, the brick & mortar store appeared to have reached it's maximum potential, while the online store, which was open to customers across this great country was still growing and thriving beyond our expectations.  The day finally came in November 2010, after almost 3 years of being in business, to make a decision about what direction we wanted to take The Baby Store Plus. We decided to close the brick & mortar store and focus our attention on the online store.  Since we did not need the main street location for an online business, we started planning where we would set up our warehouse and shipping center.

That is how we got to this day, and the big move.  Through some strategic brainstorming we came up with a plan to make the primary move over a weekend, while keeping operations running smoothly without interruption.  I had my doubts that we could really pull that off, but so far we have.  I doubt that any of our customers were even aware of what was going on behind the scenes.  My office -slash- shipping hub, was disassembled on Friday afternoon and re-assembled in my new larger space by Friday evening.  We were even able to ship orders on Saturday (we don't normally ship on weekends) that came in on Friday evening.  I was anxious to give the new assembly-line style shipping center a test-drive.  It worked wonderfully...Whew!

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent moving inventory to the new warehouse.  I am so dog-tired now.  Tonight (Sunday) after we called it a day, I came home and soaked in a steaming hot tub.  I feel so happy about the move.  The new open space that is set up specifically for an online operation is going to make my work-life so much nicer.  We still have lots more to move, but most of this was already in our storeroom so it doesn't need to be packed, just moved to the new warehouse.

One neat thing about moving is that you find all kinds of hidden treasures.  In clearing out our storeroom I have already found several boxes of products that I didn't know we even had.  Somehow these things got tucked away in a dark corner and forgotten.  I will be digging them out and offering them as either fun giveaways or super discounted items...perhaps for our Thrifty Thursday deals. 

Another really cool thing about the move is that this was the perfect time to re-evaluate some things, such as our credit card processing system, our internet services, and our telephone system.  At our new location we were able to get a much faster internet connection, which means that I can get my online work done faster and we could also upgrade to a new online credit card processing service that offers seamlessly smooth credit card processing on a super secure server.  The change of these two things meant that we were not dependent on a traditional landline for our telephone service.  That meant that we were able to change to a cell phone for our business line.  That may not seem important on the surface, but with a cell phone I am able to take our business phone with me, and therefore provide personal customer service anytime, anywhere!  Now our customers who need assistance do not have to call during normal 'working' hours and take a chance on missing me when I've gone to lunch or to drop-off packages.  I can answer their call anytime and I can assist them right then.  I think that is pretty great! 

Well, that is all the energy I have for tonight.  Like I said in the opening of this post, "I am so Pooped!"  Thanks for taking the time to read our blog posts and for shopping in our store, we truly appreciate you.  You are the reason we are always working on our business, striving to offer you the best products and customer service that we can possibly give.  Thank you!

Subscribe to The Baby Store Plus Blog via Email

© 2009-2011 The Baby Store Plus, All Rights Reserved

We were honored with the 2010 Business of the Year Award!

On Saturday evening I was honored to receive the 2010 Business of the Year Award by the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce.  Here is the article from our local newspaper about the event.  It will be printed in our local paper tomorrow, but I thought I would post the online version here on our blog. I have highlighted the part about our store in baby blue (very appropriate color I think).

I was so honored for the recognition.  Many people thought we were crazy to close our brick & mortar storefront and go 100% online, but I am so glad that we made that decision.  Our store is doing very well and continues to grow each day.  And very soon we will be moving in to our new warehouse/shipping home.

When they announced that I was the winner I had to walk up to the podium to be handed the award.  I was so nervous, my heart felt like it was going to get stuck up in my throat.  I am not a public speaker at all, so standing in front of a room full of business people was a bit intimidating to say the least.  Here is a picture of the actual award I received.

1/24/2011 11:00:00 AM

+ click to enlarge Journal/Sam Green Members of the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce gather for a picture wearing their sunglasses for the theme of the Chamber Banquet, “Our future is so bright we gotta wear shades.” Journal/Sam Green Joe Keck presents the Business of the Year Award to Anna Dreyfuss, owner of the Baby Store Plus. Future looks bright Chamber of commerce recognizes contributions to community during annual banquet Kimberly Benedict Journal Staff Writer The character of a community is evident in the lives of those who give their time to causes greater than themselves. Often, the effort of such residents goes unnoticed and unmentioned. Saturday night, the work of ordinary citizens was recognized at the 72nd Annual Cortez Chamber of Commerce banquet and awards ceremony when the volunteers for the Bridge Emergency Shelter were awarded the Cortez Journal Citizen of the Year award. "Each one of us in this room gets to go home to a warm shelter tonight," said Cortez Journal Advertising and Sales Director Mark Drudge, who presented the award. "There are a lot of people in our area who aren't that lucky. The volunteers for the Bridge Emergency Shelter provide vital support." The shelter has served the Cortez area since January 2006, relying on the support of an army of volunteers. In the 2009-2010 shelter season, the shelter was open 184 nights and had 211 unduplicated clients, serving approximate 15 clients a night. MB McAfee, chair of the shelter's board of directors, estimates 65 local residents give of their time on a daily or weekly basis to keep the shelter running. Roughly 2,500 volunteer hours were donated last year alone. "It is a huge honor to receive the award," McAfee said. "I appreciate that the community sees the value in the shelter and the effort of those who make it work." Volunteers at the shelter treasure the work they do and don't seek recognition for their efforts. "It is a need in the community," said Deb Keel, a four-year volunteer. "Someone has to fill that need." Hal Brown, who has been a volunteer with the shelter for four years, noted the learning experience that comes from reaching out to others in the community. "In a community you don't like to see people passing away in the streets," Brown said. "You learn a lot from the people you meet." Other awards presented Saturday night were the Small Business of the Year award, the Green Business of the Year award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Anna Dreyfuss, owner the The Baby Store Plus, was honored with the small business award. The store's selection was based on Dreyfuss' radical decision to abandon the brick-and-mortar business on Main St. and establish a web-based business. "(Dreyfuss) has shown a tremendous amount of adaptability," said Joe Keck, director of the Fort Lewis College Small Business Development Center, who presented the award. "She took lemons and made lemonade. When she realized the market wasn't large enough, she went ahead and went online. It is still a community store, but in a different form." Dreyfuss expressed gratitude and surprise for the selection. "Thank you very much," she said. "I don't feel that this is deserved, but I appreciate the recognition." Local construction company Skanska was recognized by the chamber of commerce as the green business of the year, an award presented by Empire Electric Association in recognition of a business that strives to conserve energy and support the use of gentler energy sources. Skanska has recently constructed one of the largest photovoltaic systems in the state to offset energy usage. The $1.5 million photovoltaic solar array, set in 15 rows and comprising 1,260 individual panels, sits on 2.5 acres of property adjacent to Skanska's office and equipment shop, according to a press release from the company. Power generated from the project is forecast to be equivalent to annually burning more than 670,000 pounds of coal, using 352,000 gallons of water, offsetting more than a million tons of carbon emissions, driving 12 million miles and planting 2,500 trees. The final recognition of the evening, the Lifetime Achievement award, went to Kelly Wilson in honor of his years of dedication to Cortez and Montezuma County. Wilson was raised on a family farm in the county and graduated from the local high school in 1953. His resume includes work as a Colorado State University Extension agent, Montezuma County commissioner and an economic development specialist for Southwest Colorado. Wilson helped establish the Four Corners Regional Commission, which led to the establishment of San Juan Vocational Technical School, now Southwest Colorado Community College. Wilson has served on various boards and was instrumental in developing the original Cortez Farmers Market. He is currently working with the local historical society to gather and publish a written history of the area. "He has a long list of accomplishments," said Chamber President Doug Yearout. "Certainly beyond measure is his heartfelt kindness and consideration for the well-being of the community." Wilson accepted the award with great humility, noting that he did "sleep once in a while." "There are always many things to do," Wilson said. "I haven't worked to be recognized, the opportunities to be involved just came along and I did what I thought had to be done. This is a great and very diverse area, and we can do almost anything we want if we just gather together and do it." Wilson also acknowledge the strong leadership present in the community. "I look at the people in this room and I know the future of Cortez and Montezuma County is in good shape," Wilson said. Cortez Chamber of Commerce board members are Doug Yearout, Byron Maynes, Jack Schuenemeyer, Bob Scott, Don Bain, Chris Caciagli, Stacy Houser, Kelly Kirkpatrick, Denis Boon, Brian Shoults, Neal Stephens and Executive Director Dena Guttridge.

Subscribe to The Baby Store Plus Blog via Email

© 2009-2010 The Baby Store Plus, All Rights Reserved

Sale * Sale * Sale!!!

I've been adding tons of new items to our Sale Page this week, and many more items will be added as fast as I can get them listed! If you want to find a Real Bargain then check out our Sale Page often. With the big move to our New Distribution Center coming in March, I have to clear out some older merchandise to make it easier on my husband and the guys when we move.

He says the less he has to move, the better. I really need to move the merchandise that was on our store shelves, before we went 100% Online. All new merchandise orders we receive will remain in their case packs until they are ordered, but everything that was already unpacked and put on shelves needs to go!

Visit our Sale Page Today for
Markdowns from 10% to 60% Off!
More items will be added daily. Many of these items are also limited quantities, so check daily so the really great deals don't get away!

-

Subscribe to The Baby Store Plus Blog via Email

© 2009-2010 The Baby Store Plus, All Rights Reserved