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Everyone’s heard of giggle, right? They’re a big deal, with more shops than you can shake a stick at. They’ve got three on Manhattan alone, including this one in SOHO…
…and the one below on the upper-east. They’ve also got an upper-west shop so they have it covered. All well thought out, including their ethos; the giggle criteria. We like.
We took time out to visit this beautiful Bobby Berk Home store in SOHO. They don’t sell kids products here but do online, including our stuff. Plus you can order in the shop.
 Babesta also sell our products, from this shop in Tribeca. They also have a threads outlet across the street. They’re a cool kids brand who do things in their own way.
A name we didn’t know before this trip is Yoya, they run this cool West Village store, along with Yoyamart, just around the corner, technically in the Meatpacking District.
I have to admit, we didn’t go into this next store. I just had to share because I love the name, Pumpkin, a cute little children’s clothing store we spied on Bleecker Street.
Clearly Manhattan has masses of kids stores. This is just a smattering of some we know, or that took our fancy. If you’ve discovered any others you’d like to share, do feel free 
No, not some tech-speak acronym to decipher. It stands for the New York International Gift Fair; the main reason we came to NYC this time. It’s held here. And it’s pretty big.
It’s not focused purely on kids, clearly, but there was a big children’s brand presence, including many of our competitors plus some reps, distributors and obviously buyers.
One slight issue with the event, as we’d heard from contacts prior, is the layout can be confusing. If we exhibited, as we might next year, we could be in one of three areas.
Very useful to attend though. We got a good feel for the event and what people are up to. It’s also given us some reassurance ahead of our first appearance at ABC later this year.
Oh, special mention for Randi Mohr, who gave us both free passes to walk the show. Mine didn’t even say ‘Olli & Lime’, making me less worried about spying on our competitors!
A customer post now, featuring the rooms of two brothers called…you guessed it; Oliver and Max. Mother Debbie sent in lots of great photos a couple of weeks back and finally I’ve got around to posting them. First, gotta love this pic of the two boys…
Debbie says, “We were looking to decorate both bedrooms but felt they were too old for ‘typical’ older boys design and wanted something more funky and retro. When I showed the website, they both asked if their rooms could be decorated with the George and Billie ranges.”
Proving that our designs can span older age ranges, Debbie used our George design for Oliver’s room and Billie for Max’s. Hmmm, too many names; this could get confusing. The family are based in Upholland, Lancashire, a place I knew nothing about until just now.
As well as sending in lots of photos, Debbie also supplied masses of information on the thought process behind each room, why she went for what, and how she’s accessorized and personalised each space. Rather than paraphrase, I’ll let her explain…
“Oliver’s a popular, placid, sensitive 12-year-old, who has a unique style and doesn’t follow fashion; he sets his own! We used the brown wallpaper and green fabric for his room, with a ceiling light from Asda and bedside light from Ikea; a perfect match for O&L Green.”
“I bought Oliver a stool to go under his desk from Ikea and took the left over George fabric to a local upholsterer to get the stool covered. The very next day I went to TK Maxx and found the green cubed box, costing £39.99, the lid comes off and he keeps chargers for all his electrical bits in it.”
“Now, we just love the vibe in Max’s room. He is 9 and a cheeky little chappy with a huge personality. We feel that his room complements his personality. It’s bright, funky and fresh. Again his ceiling light is Asda, his lamp Ikea. Max has now inherited the stool originally purchased for Oliver, currently covered with the spare Billie fabric.”
“I wanted to personalise both boys rooms, so went on a mad mission to find a funky retro font, cut out their letters of their names, and then passed them to my sister who got one of her creative guys at work to spray mount and cut them out.” What a great idea, particularly if you have any left over wallpaper.
Thanks so much to Debbie, Oliver and Max for giving us a peek inside these rooms. Incidentally, as if determined to demonstrate the versatility of our designs, Debbie about to decorate her own bedroom using our Charlie range…hopefully photos to follow
What’s not to love about New York City? Such a great place to visit. Last time here was in December 2007, for our honeymoon no less. Looks and feels very different this time.
We’re (just about) based on the upper-west side but we gravitate towards SOHO etc. And West Village. Now there’s somewhere we could live. Shame about the price tag.
I’m not gonna flood the blog with holiday snaps (so much) this trip. Main purpose here is business. We’re off to the International Gift Fair today so a post on that to come
I haven’t written a cat-related post for a while – and don’t panic, not my intention to make a habit of it – but I couldn’t resist this one, featuring our ultra-photogenic cat, Bert…
He’s taken to using my MacBook, when hooked up to my monitor, as a heated cat cushion. He is an odd little fellow but very sweet with it…not to mention inventive
Well, yesterday was certainly quite a day. The last full day I had in the office before our trip to NYC and Boston (this Friday) and everything that could go wrong…er…did.
Main problem; the blog died. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but it certainly gave the impression it had endured a very rough night. You know what I mean. It looked like crap.
Now, though things aren’t quite back to normal, I now have a blog that (hopefully) works, with all my posts, pages, images, comments, categories etc etc…and it looks vaguely okay.
Now it’s running on WordPress.org, is fully paid for, and no longer relies on a theme which is subject to change at VERY short notice. This means I have control. I can relax…kind of.
It’s still a bit rough but some (overdue anyway) design changes are on the way. Having said that, timing’s not great so progress will be slow. Still, at least I can breathe again
Finally I get round to drawing a line under our Pacific Northwest holiday business trip! Sorry for the delay. Blame the jet-lag and the insanely busy week we’ve just had.
Anyway, for my last travel-related post (for this trip at least), I’d just like to catch you up on some other highlights from our stay in stunning Seattle, home of Starbucks.
Right, this’ll be a bit random. First-up, we love this ‘Sculpture Park Pocket Beach’…
It stays pretty quiet, providing a welcome retreat. A bit pebbly but perfect for a paddle.
This man-made beach is also home to some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen…
Oh, to live by the water, sigh. Plus, it looks equally good during the day or at dusk…
Actually, on our last full day, we timed our walk down to the water perfectly, seeing the sun gradually fall away behind Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain Range…
In the foreground, above and below, exhibits in the Olympic Sculpture Park – really worth a look if you’re visiting – great pieces, with Elliot Bay and downtown views.
We took a water taxi to West Seattle, part of the mainland but the best way to travel.
We crossed in under ten minutes, taking in great skyline views along the way…
On the other side, the views are beautifully framed with green, groomed waterfront…
West Seattle has real sandy beaches, complete with mountain views(!) and an active seal population, apparently. Not to be fed or harassed. Click image to read the sign…
Oh, one last thing I must mention. We checked out some properties whilst there and I couldn’t help snapping this private deck view of Mount Rainier. Pretty cool eh?
We saw so many interesting things in Seattle and during the rest of the trip, I could create a separate blog (but I won’t). I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the highlights.
We’re back stateside again in ten days. First stop, NYC, for the International Gift Fair, then the obligatory hop back to our beloved Boston, for…um…research purposes
Just a very short post to introduce two new members of the Olli & Lime team. Meet mini donkeys Morris and Morris, “the memo’s best friend[s]“, recruited in Portland…
Designed by Yaacov Kaufman for MB, and bought from our favourite stationers, Paper Source, who’ve an impressive (growing) list of locations, some of which we’ve visited.
These beautiful, yet functional, charcoal-coloured memo holders will resdide on our new glass office desks. Oh, one last travel post on the way, then back to reality
Whenever visiting a new city, we imagine living there. What would we do? Where would we eat? Where would we shop? And most importantly, where would we live?
Downtown Seattle condos are pricey but you can get a bargain just a few blocks out. The South Lake Union neighbourhood, just north of downtown, is a prime example.
At the forefront of recent development is Microsoft’s ‘other’ big player, multi-billionaire investor, Paul Allen, owner of the Seahawks, Sounders and (Portland) Trail Blazers.
Allen has reportedly invested over $200 million of his own money in the area (as at 2005). Whether motivated by philanthropy, capitalism or megalomania, who cares?
The area is certainly on the up. South Lake Union Discovery Center is the best place to check out what’s happening. If you’re in the area, I recommend paying a visit.
If only for the interactive replica of downtown Seattle (above) and other scale models. I love this kinda stuff. Hope the condos are designed with equal attention to detail.
Back to the neighbourhood. It’s clearly not quite finished yet but a dedicated Streetcar is running, there are further development plans and a lake-side park is well under way.
One of our stockists, Tottini, is also based there; the reason we took the short trip from downtown. We popped in to say hello and enjoyed a very warm welcome.
Oh, I must mention Velocity Art & Design, just a couple of doors up. They stock some of our non-baby stuff online and in store. A very cool shop, well worth a visit.
Back to the question, would we live in South Lake Union? Um, maybe. Though not quite there yet, it will happen and now seems a good time to buy. It’s a possible
We’re definitely not ones for following the tourist path but, as time is short, we decided to take in some of Seattle’s more obvious attractions. Here’s a quick action replay…
I tackled the Space Needle solo due to Karen’s vertigo issues. Not cheap but one of the better viewing decks. Lots of gadgets and info, plus great views of a great city.
Though we could have walked from our hotel, we took the monorail over to the Space Needle, both built for the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, AKA the Seattle World’s Fair.
100+ year-old Pike Place Market is home to an eclectic mix of traders, most bizarrely (I thought) a fish market where staff routinely hurl three-foot fish across the counter!
It was also home to the original Starbucks store, before they relocated, a block away. Check out the visual branding, which is presumably more akin to the original look.
We also took the Duck Tour, which initially felt like a mistake but turned out to be fun, if not hugely informative, and we did see parts of the city we otherwise wouldn’t have.
We watched our beloved Red Sox beat the Mariners. Great ballpark, with way more comfortable seats than we’re used to! Good timing, as the Sox lost the next game.
We haven’t just been doing ‘touristy’ things! Much more to come on everything else we’ve checked out. First though, we’re off to explore this fine city some more
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