We’ll have a bunch of onesies, tees, pants, blankets and more at 50-75% off! Perfect time to get some great deals.

Also, be sure to join us at Ambajam the evening of December 2nd for the Ladies Who Launch Holiday Bazaar.

And for some more great holiday shopping be sure to swing by our neighbor, Katy Tartakoff’s First Friday Holiday Shopping Event, Friday December 4th from 3pm-9pm.  Great gifts – all under $100

Our goal in 2009 is to really expand out presence into some of the great baby and gift boutiques around the country, and we are very excited by the progress we have made already. 

Ambajam is now available in boutiques on the East Coast, West Coast, down South  and all sorts of places in between!  Click here  for the full list of stores…we will continue to update the list as we expand into more stores. 

We exhibited at the New York International Gift Fair in January.  This was our first real tradeshow experience and it was exciting, daunting and, of course, exhausting!  Overall we had a great and validating experience.  The line was really well received and people commented on the great fabrics, vibrant colors and whimsical designs of the line.  The Cuddle-up Blankets were a huge hit – no surprise there as they are really quite irrestible if we do say so ourselves! 

One of the most exciting things about the show was that we were visited by the buyers from giggle - an independent chain of wonderful, contempoary baby boutiques.  I have been a fan of giggle’sfor a long, long time and since starting Ambajam had dreamed of having my products in their stores.  They are very selective about the products they introduce into their stores and I had  heard it was pretty tough to get in.  The fact that the buyers…and then the founder of giggle…stopped by our booth and complimented the line was enough to put me on cloud nine!  When we returned to Denver and received a call from giggle saying they were interested in carrying our blankets I almost keeled over with excitement!  If you are unfamiliar with giggle definitely check them out either online or at one of their 9 retail locations  around the country. 

If you think Ambajam would be a good fit in your town, or you know of a great store we should check out, we’d love to hear from you – you can email us at info@ambajam.com

Shop between now and Tuesday, May 12  and use promo code: MUM10 to save 10% off your order!

Also, sign up for our mailing list and be entered to win an iPod Shuffle or $100 Ambajam gift certificate!  You must enter by May 15 to be eligible.

This is going to be a great event and a fun way to celebrate women and women-owned businesses.

Mark you calendars and get your tickets now!  Click here for more information.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Olivia, founder of Baby Candy and Congrats from Colorado recently launched her new PR/Marketing firm called 30 Wishes Consulting.  Olivia has a ton of experience in the PR/Marketing arena.  She has wealth of knowledge and unlimited ideas!  If you are looking for creative, out of the box PR/Marketing help, particularly though not limited to the Baby/Maternity industry, definitely give Olivia a call.  She’s awesome and I’m not just saying that because she’s a good friend! 

I just spoke with a woman who told me a story that puts it all in perspective. She used to work at United’s Red Carpet room in Phoenix.  One evening she was helping a guy whose flights had been all screwed up and he was having to spend an extra night in Phoenix.  She commented to him that he was handling it all very well given the huge inconvenience.  He told her that a few years prior he had been rushing out of the house to go to work when the phone rang.  He got caught up on the call and was very late leaving.  He was angered that the call had delayed him and that he would now be late for work.  Incredibly, the call actually saved his life.  Had he left on time he would have been at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City when it was bombed.   Incredible.  I have goose bumps just writing that.

I guess when we get tossed these inconveniences we have to accept that sometimes they may be just what we need.  While I would love to have been on my original plane which would have gotten me in with time for lunch, a swim and some good quality time with my niece and nephew, this isn’t so bad.  It’s given me time to address a work issue (will those ever end??), catch up with friends and emails, chat to some very interesteing people and just slow down.  So, here I am…hanging at LAX…I wonder what will happen next…or who I might meet?

The day after Christmas I received a call from my good friend Olivia of Baby Candy.  Olivia broke the news to me that all of us involved in the kids industry were going to be facing some major challenges due to the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). I had heard a bit about CPSIA in the fall (the act was signed into law by Bush in August) but, like many people, had understood the law to only be focused on children’s toys.  Instead, as I learned from Olivia, the law actually required lead and phthalate (chemicals often used to soften plastics) testing on ALL products geared towards kids 12 and under.  This came as a huge surprise, and along with that surprise, came much confusion and fear.  Even with the challenging economic times, I had been excited about kicking off 2009. After Olivia’s call, that excitement was tempered with the realization that my business, and those of many people I know, could be in jeopardy.  While confident that our products would check out, I cannot deny that I had many sleepless and fretful nights trying to figure out how to continue moving Ambajam forward while at the same time addressing the issues of CPSIA.

There is NO question that all of us involved in the kids industry want to make sure that our products are safe and compliant.  However, as currently written, the law places an incredible burden on businesses, particularly small businesses.  Currently, we are able to put in place our own “reasonable testing procedures” – we have done this by working with a licensed inspector who tested our products with a XRF gun….and we PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS!!  We also tested clear of any phthalates.  But once 3rd party testing is required the financial burden may become insurmountable and cause many businesses to go out of business.  Third party testing, as currently stipulated would require you to test a sample from each product from each production run.  So, when you do another run of the same product, using the same raw materials, a sample would still be required to be tested even if that exact same product had been compliant on a prior run.  Given her production cycle, quantity of products and components, Olivia estimates that 3rd party testing of her products would cost her upwards of ONE MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR! My estimation is that it would cost Ambajam in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, to prove, what we already know from our own testing, that our products are compliant.

This is undoubtedly a difficult time for our industry, but one of the amazing things to come out of this challenge has been the community we have built here in Colorado. Many seemingly competitive businesses have joined together under the banner of Congrats from Colorado to share information, costs, resources and support.  We have hosted forums (to discuss the law and its ramifications), lead testing “parties” (yes, we tried to make them fun!), press conferences and much more (see the photos below from some of our events).  Olivia has even started the CPSIA Cheerleader blog, the purpose of which is to encourage small business owners, share resources, and develop strategies to take advantage of a very tough situation.

There is so much to understand about the new law.  I am sure I cannot do it justice here so instead, I would like to share with you a number of sites and resources that will provide you with information about this law and its ramifications.  Please check it out – CPSIA affects everyone from the manufacturer to the retailer to the consumer.

CPSIA Cheerleader

The Smart Mama

Consumer Products Safety Commission

National Bankruptcy Day

Reform CPSIA