CORNWALL, Ontario – The highly anticipated Baby Boutique at Kid’s Korner officially opened on Saturday, May 12 — just in time for Mother’s Day.
The grand opening included free cupcakes and coffee, a draw for a gift basket, free giveaways and the unveiling of a baby photo gallery.
“The wall of baby photos is all local babies,” said Leslie Ouderkirk, who owns the store with her husband Kevin. “Customers who saw our post on Facebook submitted their photos. So we took a variety of some in black and white, and some in colour, some with newborns.”
Dana McLean, who works with Cornwall Economic Development, explained how she assisted the Ouderkirks when applying for grants for the building through Cornwall’s Heart of the City revitalization program. She thinks that the Baby Boutique is a great step for the program as it utilizes the second story space, which is what the program is encouraging for the city’s downtown buildings.
“It’s really exciting because when I had my first child I bought my stuff from Kid’s Korner, 25 years ago,” said McLean. “It’s nice to see that a local business has been around for so long and seeing it expand.”
The Ouderkirks feel that they have trendy, good quality products. They feel that they offer a personalized shopping experience for customers and their children.
“We’ve always had baby products,” said Leslie Ouderkirk. “My husband started the business with furniture baby products and then we got into toys. The main level just got way too crowded so we needed to open up the upstairs, so we figured we’d make it a Baby Boutique and sort of separate the two businesses.”
Kids Korner is located at 141 Pitt Street in Downtown Cornwall.
