Darren Gann of South Charlotte began The Baby Grocery Store in 2011 after his frustration of having to shop for baby food at multiple stores for his infant daughter. While working on building the first brick and mortar store, Darren opened a kiosk at SouthPark mall selling cloth diapers, amber teething necklaces, eco-friendly feeding supplies, and of course organic and natural baby food. His frustration has turned into a thriving business that helps other parents find exactly what they are looking for.
Q. How did you get the idea for The Baby Grocery Store?
A. My wife and were shopping for pet food one day and had a question of why there isn't a baby food store like pet food store. After discussing the frustration of having to go to multiple stores to put together a good selection of baby food and finding there never seemed to be a decent selection all in one place, I set out to see if a store like this existed. So began the birth of The Baby Grocery Store.
Q. What is your vision for the company?
A. I want to create a unique brand that gives parents a choice of shopping for great baby consumables that are both organic in nature and eco-friendly. We have designed our grocery store to be the ultimate destination store for all things baby grocery.
Q. How do you explain your brand?
A. Our brand is in short a Whole Foods for babies. There are more choices than parents even know about and we want The Baby Grocery Store to be the trusted brand that gives them all the choices under one roof with a diversity of choice they never thought possible. Our target age range is newborn through older child.
Q. Why all natural or organic?
A. We want only the best for our children and making sure we carry products that parents can trust is at the heart of who we are. We know some parents have their favorite brands so we want to make sure that not only their favorite organic brands are in our store but some awesome brands that they’ve never heard of are there as well. Discovering and learning about great choices is something we think all parents deserve when shopping for their family.
Q. What types of products do you carry?
A. We carry organic food for all aged children, diapers ( both cloth and biodegradable), bottles, plates, spoons, safe cleaning products, wellness items, body care for babies and children, and a host of other essential products for babies and toddlers. We will also carry an assortment of essentials for both pregnancy as well as breastfeeding.
Q. Why did you choose to integrate cloth diapers and personal care with food?
A. We feel at the heart that cloth diapers should be prominent in a mainstream setting to show parents that this a viable option for your diapering needs. Cloth diapers need to be available in brick and mortar setting and not just online so customers can touch and feel the diapers and see what works best.
Q. What all will the store include?
A. We have a full Community Room that will serve for playgroups, baby showers and educational classes. We also have a demo kitchen that will host cooking classes on how to make baby food for all stages.
Q. What types of events will be at the Charlotte Baby Grocery Store?
A. Events from cooking classes to cloth diaper classes and tons of vendor demo's so our parents can meet the people behind the brands.
Q. When is the store opening?
A. Nov. 5th!! Be sure to check out our blog for all of the details.
Q. What should your customers expect at the grand opening?
A. We will have prizes, giveaways and tons of special guests for all our parents to meet! Some of the special guests are Jef Holm from People Water, GroVia, HappyFamily, Guenn from Tanner in the Morning, Milkmakers, and Jan Brown a local lactation consultant and author.
Q. How many stores do you foresee opening in the next five years?
A. We hope to have 10-plus stores serving parents from all across the country.
Q. What has been your favorite part of building your own company?
A. The joy of putting something positive in the world and and giving parents the choices under one roof for their children they finally deserve
You can find more info about The Baby Grocery Store online at: http://www.thebabygrocerystore.com/ http://blog.thebabygrocerystore.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thebabygrocerystore Store Location: 10225 park rd. Charlotte NC 28210
