At Steve’s Ace Home & Garden in Dubuque, Iowa, customers can find many unique items. From power tools and garden hoses to cloth diapers and child proofing products, this store has it all. Although the business began as a home and garden center, other businesses are thriving inside the store as well. One of those businesses is Sprout, a children’s boutique.
Hardware Retailing spoke with sister’s Sara Carpenter, vice president of operations, and Tricia Kerth, store manager, for the December issue of the magazine. They both shared their thoughts on child safety, how to create a healthy home and suggested child safety and eco-friendly products to consider carrying.
To learn more about the children’s boutique inside Steve’s Ace Home & Garden and how it has grown over the years, read this profile on SproutHardware Retailing published in November 2013.
Finally, to take a virtual tour of Sprout, click through the photo gallery below.
When Steve's Ace Home & Garden decided to jump all in with the children's boutique concept, they built a store within their greenhouse building to house Sprout.
While many of the child safety products are found in the hardware store, parents shopping for baby know they can find what their little ones need. Here, manager Tricia Kerth and her sister Sara Carpenter (left) pose inside the doorway of Sprout with Tricia's children.
Sprout has expanded with the hard work of both Kerth (left) and Carpenter.
Once inside Sprout, visitors are able to browse a wide range of products.
Reusable cloth diapers helped launch Sprout. When Carpenter was first pregnant, she wanted to try cloth diapers and realized there wasn't anywhere in the community to get them. Sprout grew from that as more parents came to the store to pick up diapers.
Carpenter and Kerth are always searching for new and unique products to stock in Sprout. They have fun picking out cute patterns and colors.
The store features a wide range of products parents might want or need.
Sprout also offers toys for young children.
The store offers a wide range of bows for parents to pick out for their little ones.
Since Sprout became such a hit, the sisters decided to open the other business inside the store, called Sprout Too. This store has items for pregnant mothers, car seats, strollers, teething necklaces, and more.
There are plenty of clothes between both stores for little babies and young children.
Renee Changnon is the retail outreach coordinator for NRHA. She meets with retailers in their stores and at industry events and introduces them to the services NRHA provides. Renee previously worked as a member of the NRHA communications team. She earned a degree in visual journalism from Illinois State University, where she served as the features editor for the school newspaper. After college, she implemented marketing and promotions initiatives at Jimmy John’s franchise locations across the country. She enjoys exploring books with her book club, Netflix marathons and hosting goat yoga at her apartment complex.
Renee Changnon
317-275-9442
rchangnon@nrha.org