Cloth-diaper boutique a natural fit for mom of two
The cloth diapers that Heather Holt sells at her new shop on Winton Road are a lot different from the plain white ones she wore as a baby. Safety pins have given way to Velcro or snaps. And this generation of baby bottoms is a lot more stylish.
“You might have been able to get some little lace diapers for girls,” said Holt’s mother, Cathy Marsh. But there were certainly no leopard- or cow-print diapers like those her daughter was ringing up at the grand opening of Luvaboos.
Holt started Luvaboos as a home-based cloth-diaper business in 2007 and opened her store earlier this month. She sells brands like Thirsties, Happy Heinys, BumGenius and FuzziBunz, along with other natural parenting products.
Traffic at the Saturday, Nov. 14, opening was so high that representatives of the bar next door came outside to guard its parking places from hoards of parents. Among them were Melissa and Jon Rutherford of Rochester, who are expecting a baby in January and plan to use cloth diapers as a way to reduce trash in landfills.
“We’re very much a throwaway society,” said Jon Rutherford. “This is one thing you can do.”
Sara Kuhn of Brockport brought her baby to the Luvaboos opening. She has just started cloth diapering and said she thought she’d save about $50 a month. “So far, so good,” she said.
Holt started using cloth diapers when she had one son in diapers and another baby on the way. She calculated that she would be spending $100 a month on disposable diapers and wanted an alternative. After a friend loaned her a few cloth diapers to try, she quickly converted. After her second son was born, she started selling diapers to other families.
For parents who are unsure about the logistics of cloth diapering, Holt offers a $15 trial program that includes a variety of kinds of cloth diapers and the supplies needed to use them for a week. She is working on a trial program for baby carriers, which also are available at Luvaboos.
The store also sells nursing accessories, holistic baby supplies and artistic offerings like kits for belly painting and belly casting for pregnant women. Holt says she aims to offer parents unusual things they can’t find in baby chain stores. In the future, she hopes to offer childbirth, prenatal yoga, tot drumming and other classes at the shop.
“We want it to be a neighborhood place where people can bring their babies,” she said.
Holt, who previously worked as a dance instructor and dancer for Push Physical Theater, comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Her grandparents owned a feed store and a gift store, and her mother has a painting business.
She says that her family may not have been well off, but they taught her that it’s possible to find creative ways to fulfill your dreams. “If you are enjoying yourself and your family and helping others, everything falls into place.”
EBRYANT@DemocratandChronicle.com
To learn more:
For more information about Luvaboos, visit www.luvaboos.com or call . The store is at 683 N. Winton Road.
Store hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; closed Sunday and Monday.
