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Small business profile: Itty Bitty Baby Clothing Company

@jaclyn-law
Insights - Oct. 4, 2017

Small business profile: Itty Bitty Baby Clothing Company

The Winnipeg clothier keeps growing by focusing on the tiniest customers

Itty Bitty Baby Clothing Company came into the world in 1995, after a friend of Carol Spain’s gave birth to premature triplets. They were too small for regular newborn clothes, so Spain tried shopping for preemie sizes. When she couldn’t find any, she made her own tiny sleepers. The garments were a hit with hospital staff and parents of other preemies, and Spain soon received calls requesting more.

Curious about the potential market for preemie-wear, she talked to buyers at hospital gift shops. The response was lukewarm. Some already offered preemie clothing, but it was poorly made, says Spain, and wasn’t selling despite high demand. Spain says she heard stories of desperate parents dressing their babies in doll clothes instead.

So, she and her husband, Rod Little, decided to test their belief that a niche market existed. They hired a local seamstress to help produce samples, which they took to gift shops across western Canada. “The reception was amazing,” says Spain. “I think people realized, once they saw our product, what made it different because it was beautifully made.”

Now, 22 years later, the couple’s Winnipeg-based company designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of quality baby clothes and accessories, including garments for “micro-preemie babies” in neonatal intensive care. Itty Bitty Baby sells its products online, and to retailers and wholesalers in Canada, the United States and internationally.

Itty Bitty Baby has always made its products in Canada, rather than using cheaper labour overseas as most clothing brands do. “If you can’t compete on price, you have to compete on quality, so we always have,” says Spain. To maintain its high standards, the company sources top-quality fabrics and hires talented sewers. “It’s a difficult skill, sewing something that small,” says Spain. “We have scratch mittens that would hold a red grape.”

Itty Bitty Baby is embracing technology in both marketing and manufacturing, too. It’s launching a mobile-first, lead-generating website, and the couple’s daughter is helping with a social-media strategy. The company has also invested in a digital garment printer to create baby-safe, durable custom graphics for hospitals, which has become a major component of its business.

The company is growing steadily, while ensuring that product quality and customer service remain top-notch. “I’m really quite proud of what we’ve accomplished,” says Little. “We started with nothing, basically, with our own resources… and we’ve built a really good business where one wasn’t before.”