Building Better Baby Moms

Baby on the way? Baby in the house?

These days you’ve probably been to Target so many times the employees ask you for directions, but now the endless search for every baby thing might be ending.

Giggle is a new type of baby shop, created and developed to put everything the new parent needs—except baby food—in one spot.

“We think of this as a curated environment,” says Ali Wing, creator of Giggle, a ten-old chain, which recently opened on Lake Avenue. “There are no shortage of places to buy things for your baby, but we wanted to simplify it all. We wanted to really help parents welcome their new family member.”

As a “career consumer marketer,” with a pediatric focus, Wing looks at the baby industry with more of a marketer’s eye than a mom’s eye. “The customer is an axis,” she explains, and it all revolves from there. “We base our stores on our research profile of our target audience and the local community.”

It’s no surprise then, that the store not only has its own baby registry, but a mobile phone baby registry app, as well.

While Giggle features an extraordinary range of products from simple baby bottles to rocking horses and baby furniture, there are also a handful of what the store calls, “Ali’s Picks,” particularly unique or high-quality products available in the stores.

“What we look for in our products that we sell, and that we produce, is great product design and function. Not just cute,” she explains. In fact, 40% of the products available are Giggle brand products developed exclusively in-house.

“We also take a lot of customer ideas into consideration as we develop our lines,” said Wing. In fact, the products are based around seven categories of needs, from Basics, like burp cloths and bottles, to Innovative, which are, of course, the latest baby products, researched, tested and “just plain smart,” to Responsible, the latest green and environmentally friendly baby products

The store originally began in San Francisco, but has since expanded into 567 stores nationwide. There are two in the LA area, including Santa Monica, and of course, the Pasadena location.

“We select our locations carefully,” said Wing. “We look for a community of young parents who are smart and aware. Then we put our money where our mouth is.”

And that would be your neighborhood. Where you live.

Giggle is at 517 South Lake Avenue, Pasadena. (626) 744-0233. www.giggle.com