How to Support Local - Rock-A-Bye-Baby Edition
If you have a baby or toddler in your life, this one is for you! Kate from Rock-A-Bye-Baby in Essex has put together a collection of all things baby that will melt your heart and make your life as a mama and papa (or soon to be) as easy as possible!
Not only does Rock-A-Bye-Baby carry the everything from the important items for nursing, bathing, teething, you name it, but they also carry the absolute sweetest outfits (including the cutest baby head wraps) for our wee ones! Here is what Kate had to say about Rock-A-Bye-Baby is doing amidst the chaos of social distancing:
Tell us about your business and why you decided to open.
My business is a Baby Boutique & Registry location.
In December 2018 I was getting very close to returning to work from my maternity leave. I have always wanted to be an Entrepreneur, but it was just never the right time. I started brainstorming and and thoughts led into research and research led into a reality. Before I new it I had planned and put so much time into a business plan that I figured why stop now? Three months later my dream turned into reality and I had my own shop. On March 20, 2019 I flipped the open sign over and started a whole new chapter in my life. As a fairly new mom at that time, I struggled to find shops like this in Essex County and thought this would be a great thing for Essex and surrounding areas.
Fast forward to one whole year later and I am still learning so much, but would never look back!
What business was like before COVID-19?
Business before COVID-19 had a fun, welcoming, stress free shopping experience for anyone walking into the store. I had daily customers and people making gift registries online or in store. My shop is right on the main street of Essex so there was always lots of foot traffic and people driving by.
What has business been like since the outbreak of COVID-19?
Never could I have anticipated something like COVID-19 making an appearance only ONE year after opening my shop.
Since the COVID-19 breakout, business has been very different. I was forced to close my store front leaving me to work from home and care for my daughter full time. Working from home and having to go back and forth to the store many times a week has been a challenge but I am so thankful for my family, friends and customers who continue to support me by using my online website. The website gives access to purchase many items and also gives expecting moms access to create a gift registry. Offering curbside pick up for online orders and free local delivery has proven to work thus far. I will continue to offer these options until we are back to "norm". The community has really proven to support local and for that I couldn't be more thankful. I love what I do and this is just a little bump in the road.
How will this impact your business long term?
I choose to believe this will lead to a positive outcome for the future. I have heard numerous comments about how this has opened peoples eyes and really made them think about how important it is to support businesses in their community.
How can people help?
People can help and show their support by following the shop on Facebook and Instagram, telling friends and neighbors about store, shop the online website www.rockabyebabyboutique.ca or just show their support anyway they can. Any support at this time is appreciated and I send positive vibes to everyone and hope this is all over very soon
xoxo
Kate