Outside Baby: 'We are much more than a clothing company'

HOOD RIVER, Ore. - A small company in Hood River wants families to 'Get Out and Play!' and they are using that idea as the inspiration for their line of outdoor gear and clothing specially designed for little ones.

Outside Baby is the brainchild of Lisa Vinciguerra and Rob LaVigne, who decided back in 2003 to use their combined years of business know-how and experience in the action sports/outdoor industries to become entrepreneurs. 

The husband and wife team were also new parents at the time and as a couple who enjoyed an active lifestyle, they understood the desire for good quality outdoor gear and clothing that makes it easy for parents to take their kids along for all the fun.

"You're an outdoor person - you're living this lifestyle of work to play and play to work.  And then you have a kid and it's sort of like 'how do I keep doing what I'm doing?'  So that's one of our main things - encouraging kids and parents to get out and play.  We totally believe in that magic of kids and grownups in the outdoors," said Vinciguerra (pictured on the right).

The couple used their own capital and marketing expertise to get the business off the ground and like any home-grown business, they started off small.

"Our first office was a mini Airstream trailer, our second office was a bigger Airstream trailer and now we have a farm across the river," said Vinciguerra, referring to their home in Underwood, Wash.

Starting a business is always a challenge, but Vinciguerra said because of their past experience and contacts, they were able to make it happen.

"The challenge is to get the sales rolling but because of our past work experience, we had good resources to get samples built, to get ideas developed," she said.  "It wasn't that hard to get the idea going but to get the business developed to where it is today has taken a lot of work."

Outside Baby started out as an online only venture but has since expanded.  The couple hired on two other employees and are now selling to REI and a number of outdoor baby specialty shops, both locally and nationally.  Outside Baby gear and clothing can even be found in some places in Canada and Europe.

Business Outlook

Although the nation's bad economy is hanging a dark cloud over many small businesses, Vinciguerra is optimistic that they will be able to weather the storm.

"There are certain things people are still going to buy, and people still buy for children," she said.  "So I think for us, that will help us ride out whatever is going on in the economy."

And while the Christmas season is likely to be a tough one this year, Vinciguerra isn't worried.

"Most of our retailers are strong," she said.  "So for us, I think we expect to just stay pretty steady.  And that's kind of our goal throughout the year.  None of our retailers have a very heavy risk position with our types of products because we are new and small and growing."

The Outside Baby team will be revealing their spring line in February - one that includes kids' yoga clothing, bathing suits and more.  And they are also working on new styling for next year's winter line.

Long-term, they hope to continue with their theme of parents and kids enjoying the outdoors as a family.

"We are much more than a clothing company - we're about outdoor parenting," said Vinciguerra.  "And that's where we really hope to see ourselves growing - still making great products but also more family experience types of things."

Where You Can Find Outside Baby Gear/Clothing

Local Shops

• Polliwog - located at 2900 S.E. Belmont Street in Portland
• Haggis McBaggis - located at 6802 S.E. Milwaukie Avenue in Sellwood
• Outside Baby shop - company's temporary holiday storefront at 4th and Oak in Hood River (will be open through New Year's)

Online

• Direct from the Outside Baby Web site
• Backcountry.com - type "Outside Baby" in the search box at the top of the page.
• Zappos.com - type "Outside Baby" in the search box at the top of the page.
• REI - type "Outside Baby" in the search box at the top of the page.  Note - the REI in Portland does not carry Outside Baby merchandise in the store but will be happy to order items for you.

Shannon L. Cheesman is a Portland-area Web Producer/Reporter who specializes in the outdoors. She writes and reports for Fisher Interactive Network, which consists of 13 local news/information Web sites in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California.