| How Bellies to Babies Came to be: The idea of starting Bellies to Babies came to Crystal while she was pregnant with her son in 2006. It was very difficult to find inexpensive, yet cute maternity clothes to keep up with her ever growing belly. She went into local thrift shops and was turned off by the selection, price and how cluttered the stores were. Yet the department stores were too expensive - she couldn't justify spending $25 - $60 on a shirt she would only wear for maybe a month. There were all sorts of used baby clothing stores around, it seemed absurd that there weren't any used clothing stores filled with just maternity clothes. It was then that Crystal decided she was going to take it upon herself and open a one of a kind used maternity clothes store! While 8 months pregnant, she took courses through local Women Venture. The normal 6 week course had to be condensed into 3 weeks so Crystal could finish before she went into labor. She continued to plan the store after her sons birth. This past summer, after planning and researching for 2 1/2 years, the store was ready to begin. She traveled around the state from garage sale to garage sale buying up their maternity clothes. Obtaining a loan was near impossible for a 25 year old first time business owner with an economy in a recession. So Crystal and her fiancé decided to hold sales out of their garage during the weekends. Labor Day Weekend was the first and brought in women from all over the state - showing Crystal what a need there was for this type of store. Near the end of September, the storefront on Penn was found. Crystal and her fiancé obtained a small line of credit and signed the lease! The remodel was started in October and by November 1st, the store was complete. The official opening of the store was November 2nd. Bellies to Babies is still bringing in women from all over the Midwest. We are proud to be able to provide mamas and Mamas-to-be a place to find cute, yet inexpensive clothes and accessories. |
The "Garage"
August 2008
August 2008
| The "Garage" August 2008 |
| Store Grand opening Nov. 2008 |
| The "Store" November 2008 |
| The "Store" November 2008 |
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| We Buy Rent and Sell! |
NOW OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!
| Gift cards now available Call: 612-869-0164 |