Customer-friendly Best for Babies gives back to community

Best for Babies, at 7225 Montgomery Road in Kenwood, is determined to help reduce the anxiety of choosing baby products and to providing parents the best options for furniture, gear, toys and gifts.

Founded by mothers Sydney Warm and Marlin Marshall, who were frustrated at the lack of quality customer service and guidance available in other stores, the store held a soft opening last November.

"Business has been a little bit better than expected," Warm says.  "Most of our customers come from the surrounding area, people who would normally come to Kenwood Mall.  But we have also had people come from as far away as Indianapolis."

In selecting products for its store and accompanying website, Best for Babies enlists the help of a parent advisory team of moms and dads from throughout the country, who offer thoughts and feedback on each product's real-world application.

"We also did a few years of research," Warm says.  "We hit all of the trade shows and see all of the new lines.  We travel all over the U.S."

As a result of this insight, shoppers will find that 50 percent of the store's products can't be found anywhere else in the region, and 65 percent of Best for Babies products are natural or eco-friendly.

"We have products like Orbit strollers, Bratt Décor baby furniture, and Maxi-Cosi car seats," Warm says.

Warm and Marshall also donate up to 5 percent of their proceeds to the Matthew Bittker Foundation, an organization that helps fund research for neuroblastoma and other types of pediatric cancer.

"It's a very important cause nationally, and it affects every walk of life," Warm says.  "The Bittkers are close friends of mine.  I've seen what they've been through, and pediatric cancer needs more funding to help find a cure."

A formal grand opening is scheduled for later this month.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Sydney Warm, co-owner, Best for Babies