Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Firefly had a Kid!

There's a new Kid in town ... called Kid! Yes, Firefly's Erinn Berkson has both had a real kid - the darling Mia Arbor - and just last Saturday opened her new children's store, Kid. I'm still in complete awe that she can even keep her eyes open after tending to her not-quite 1 year old AND creating a brand new business - in the same year. But she does ... and with style.


The last time Blogtown checked in with Erinn, Mia had not yet been born, and there was no space or time to even talk about a new business ... but a lot can change in a year. The number of strollers on Abbot Kinney has dramatically increased in recent times, and Erinn noticed when pushing her own pram about town that there really wasn't anywhere on the street that carried all the stuff families with kids need in one spot - from clothes to burp cloths, from books to toys. (Plus people kept asking at Firefly if they could carry more baby stuff, and there wasn't really any more room for it in the existing space).

As Firefly The Original has been the one-stop gift shop for Venice since 1999, so now can Kid (also the name of a baby goat - Erinn & Tim call Mia "Goat" sometimes for her deal of liking to chew on paper) be your trusted friend in the 'hood when you have to go to yet another baby shower or birthday party.


Much like Firefly, a space opened up at exactly the perfect time, just two doors down. Now there is a Firefly enterprise flanking each side of Abbot's Pizza Company! Grab a slice, get your gift, be on your merry way! Erinn's husband, Tim Bonefeld, and her brother, Chris, did a lot of the hard labor on the new space themselves (it's all very much a family affair), building gorgeous shelves, painting, all of it, and when the doors opened on April 9th, the first thing I heard someone say as they walked in was "Oh my gosh, it's adorable!" They were not wrong.


The shelves now house clothes so cute you want to stretch them out to fit your adult size (Seriously. Our own baby clothes were never so cute - or soft!). Stuffed animals so soft they might as well be real. Learning toys, like blocks and flashcards in other languages. Good old school stuff like Slinkys and bike bells. Tiny baby stuff like swaddles and baby paper. And WONDERFUL books, always books if it has anything to do with Erinn.


Firefly has been around since the '90s precisely because it is a part of the community it KNOWS. Same goes for Kid Firefly. All we heard all opening day was what a NEED there was for this kind of store on the block, and I suspect a big part of the fun over the years will be watching all the babies grow up (and patronize both stores)!


It didn't hurt that one of the cutest (and I like to add - smartest!) babies in town, Miss Mia, greeted the new customers with her excellent waving skills, when she did her first shift in the store (relax, Child Labor, she's family!). As Erinn said, "Mia's been a real trooper", as there sure has been a lot going on in her first year of life. Yet with all the work, the laughs come easy, and this stretch of Abbot Kinney is the cheeriest around.


Befitting a store such as Kid, Erinn said, "I would like to specialize in treasures and fun." That is why I love her, and that is why you will love Kid.

Stop in! Say Hi! Meet the new addition/s! And know that treasures and fun are indeed in store for you.



Kid Firefly
1405 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice. CA. 90291
310.450.6288

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