“We found Netto in a moment of serendipity,” said Kron. “We were so excited to have found a line of nursery furniture that was something we wanted to sell.”

The high-fashion, modern, clean-lined Netto Collection, which has gained momentum at least in part due to its celebrity clientele, is the key furniture line for Genius Jones. Although the store sells pieces from other high-design manufacturers like Oeuf, Offi and Stokke, because of Kron’s exclusive deal with Netto, it is the only furniture he floors.

In the new Design District store, the Netto Collection has its own mini-gallery space, designed by David Netto and complete with walls paneled in oak floorboards as well as an orange-leathercovered column — because Netto wanted it there. The Netto area also pays homage to renowned classic area architects like Morris Lapidus, who built the famed Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, with curved lines throughout.

“(Netto) feels it’s important that the furniture be shown the right way, in the right environment,” said Kron. “It really is a partnership.”

Kron said he and Brito were in discussions with Bugaboo before the company came to the United States, after reading about the Dutch-based stroller company in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

“It took us an entire month to sell the first one,” said Kron. “…Now, we’re at the point where we can sell 10 Bugaboos a day.”

But Brito pointed out that this is not just because they’ve latched on to a hot product; it still remains, at heart, about customer service.

“We understand the product inside and out,” she said. “…We train our sales people how to take it apart and clean it….we have a crew that’s completely trained.” When a customer buys a Bugaboo, employees assemble it for them, rather than sending them home with the box.

Genius Jones is also one of only two stores in the United States to carry the limited-edition Bas Kosters-designed Bugaboo, which retails for $2,000. To date, the store has sold 15.

“Modern is going mainstream,” said Kron. “It’s a direction we’re going to be seeing in general in the United States…Modern in the kids market represents a tiny fraction of the marketplace, but it’s the most influential. We’re definitely on the cutting edge of a shift in taste in the kids market — whether it will take over remains to be seen.”

If Genius Jones is any indication, the trend is most definitely growing; the store has doubled its revenues every year — and that’s without the new 2,000- square-foot store, which just opened at the end of November.

“We knew we were on to something good,” said Kron. He and Brito were feeling cramped in their 500-square-foot store, however, and were selling furniture mostly by showing catalog pictures. “We thought, ‘If we had the space to show furniture, we could sell more,'"said Kron.

At the same time, the duo knew they needed to tackle the online end of their business.

“Our real competition is not other stores, but the online market,” said Kron. “We needed to be in that market…It’s particularly critical to our business; it’s a time (parents) are learning a whole new subject. The way people research things now is through the Internet.” ...(continued)

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