Nursery Couture brings edgy, modern vibe to Texas
Jane Kitchen -- Kids Today, 11/8/2011 5:34:23 AM
San Antonio - For Nursery Couture owner Katy Mimari, it's not about being the biggest, it's about being the best.
Also the owner of bedding and accessories company Caden Lane, Mimari first opened Nursery Couture after seeing a void in the San Antonio marketplace five years ago.
"I was going to all these markets, meeting the coolest designers, and it was when all this hip baby stuff was coming out," said Mimari. "And in San Antonio, there were only traditional baby stores at the time."
Mimari said she appealed to all her girlfriends to open a baby store, but none of them were interested, so she decided to do it herself. She found the perfect 2,000-square-foot location, right next to Chic Mama Maternity, and Nursery Couture was born. (Now, she said, all those girlfriends she tried to talk into opening the store are kicking themselves for not doing it.)
And Nursery Couture is anything but traditional.
"My style is kind of funky, and I wanted to steer away from the smocking and the choochoo trains and also do something more modern and edgy," she said.
Still, she keeps in mind where she lives. "Modern and edgy is different for Texas," she said. "...Only in Texas can 
you hot glue rhinestones on the wall and get away with it. And it is darn cute."
Mimari describes Nursery Couture as a hybrid of a boutiquey gift store and a bigger box specialty store. She has six cribs on the floor, set up in vignettes around the perimeter, along with other pieces of furniture and even coordinating strollers.
"A lot of moms who don't have the creative eye like to see it laid out for them a little bit," said Mimari. "And I show them looks outside of the box."
The store is heavily accessorized, and Mimari said she uses her cribs as a merchandising vehicle.
"You shop inside the crib," she explained. Each vignette is coordinated by color and theme, so that she has both a sweet baby girl look and a "funky, louder" girl group. "I try to spread it out so it's like a discovery within each vignette for our customers," she said.
The middle section of the store focuses on apparel, from newborn to size 4T. A huge layette and coming home section helps with the gift business end of things, which is a big part of Nursery Couture's business.
"I try really hard to keep our store seasonless so we're not having to turn over inventory all the time," said Mimari.
Customer favorites include funny onesies with sayings like "I spit up on Longhorns."
"Sometimes you have to have the gifts that entertain because it makes people enjoy the process of shopping," said Mimari.
And it is that sense of fun that helps make Nursery Couture stand out. Mimari said most of her registering expectant moms are also registering at Target or Babies ‘R' Us, and she encourages them to - Nursery Couture doesn't carry some of the basics, like car seats.
"We want them to get the best of both worlds," said Mimari.
But she also knows that her customers aren't looking for the same things at Nursery Couture that they would be at a mass merchant.
"The customers that shop specialty stores are looking for something that they can't find at Target," said Mimari. "...For me, fabric and prints and color are so important - I'm not reinventing the blanket or the bib," said Mimari.
What she does reinvent on a regular basis is the way the store looks.
"It's reall
y hard today for a store to be original," said Mimari. "It's really important to redefine yourself constantly. We rearrange all the time, because the first time a customer walks in and sees the same thing, they're not going to come back."
Nursery Couture does a good registry business, helping customers focus on things that make good gifts and giving advice along the way.
"New moms are so overwhelmed... We're like the girlfriend who helps them register," said Mimari. "...I love giving people advice, so it's like my own way to go out there and boss people around and get paid for doing it - and it's so fun."
Nursery Couture has also designed its fair share of celebrity nurseries, especially for a store that's based in Texas.
"It's fun to be able to work with celebrities and then bring it back to San Antonio and help customers recreate that look," said Mimari.
Mimari estimates that 1/3 of her business comes from pregnant moms, 1/3 from grandmothers and 1/3 from girlfriends, many of whom come to Nursery Couture the day of a shower for a last-minute gift. They know Mimari or one of her staff will help them pick out the perfect gift and wrap it up fabulously. "It's all about tissue paper," sa
id Mimari. "They walk out, it's done, and it's a great advertisement for us," she said. Another great advertisement: the gift that gets noticed.
"It's so important to have the best gift at the baby shower, and we strive for that to be Nursery Couture," said Mimari.
A recent example for a fashionminded expectant mom: the book "This Little Piggy Went to Prada," a pair of Heelarious baby's first high heels, and a rhinestone pacifier.
"For most practical gift, we lose," said Mimari. "For most fun, we win."
And fun, as we all know, always wins - especially at baby showers. And winning, of course, is how you become the best
Nursery Couture at a glance
Owner: Katy Mimari
Location: San Antonio
Square footage: 2,000
Years in business: 5
Furniture vendors: Bratt Décor, Young America
Bedding vendors: Caden Lane, Serena & Lily, Maddie Boo
Accessories vendors: Caden Lane, Rug Market, Dish & Spoon, baby JaR, BlaBla, Aiden + Anais
Gear vendors: Bob, Uppa Baby, Bumbleride, Baby Jogger
Apparel vendors: Sara Kety, Urban Smalls, baby JaR, Trumpette, Mud Pie, Kissy Kissy
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