May
12, 2005
Best of Miami Awards 2005
Best Baby Store: Genius Jones
This is a children's
store all grown up. Owners Daniel Kron and his wife Geane
Brito, New York fashion- and design-world refugees, opened
shop in 2003 specifically because they were so disappointed
with what was available when shopping for their first
child in 2000.
"For too long in the baby business
people just accepted what they were given because there
were no alternatives," Kron says.
So he and his
wife found interesting and beautiful alternatives, such
as the cardboard snap-together rocket from Brazil, big
enough for kids to crawl into; vintage guayaberas and
concert T-shirts, recut and miniaturized; and their signature
item, the $729 Bugaboo Stroller from Holland.
They stumbled
upon that pricey kid-cart before it was even available
in the U.S., becoming one of the first five stores to
carry it. Since then it has gone on to become the celebrity
stroller, used by Gwyneth Paltrow and featured on Sex
and the City.
Kron says he looks for inspiration when
selecting gear. "I want them to show me a great
design, show me a better way, show me something aesthetically
stunning," he says. "We never think in terms
of what we can make a lot of money on."
Their approach
seems to be working: They intend to open a second location
at 49 NE 39th Street in the Design District, probably
by June. "A lot of our success has to do with the
fact that people in Miami are having more babies than
in other cities," Kron adds. "People are more
into their families here, it seems." |
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