By Chris Bavender
A baby gear rental company featured on Shark Tank is now operating in central Indiana. The company helps make travel more relaxing for families by helping them locate items to rent such as cribs, strollers, car seats and even toys and books.
“Families log into the website and search for Quality Providers in the area in which they’ll be traveling,” said Kelly Emmert, a Carmel resident who recently became an independent quality provider for BabyQuip. “There are usually a few to choose from, with tourist locations having more. You can browse each QP’s inventory, add items to your cart, select your dates of travel, a delivery and pick-up window and place your order.”
Emmert became involved after using the company while on a family vacation with her two children, the youngest of whom is 6 months old.
“Preparing to travel with two little ones was a lot to manage,” she said. “I started brainstorming ways to make our travel a bit easier and lessen the burden on my parents of trying to acquire a bunch of children’s items that we would only use for a few days. It was at this time I stumbled upon BabyQuip. I realized I could rent just about everything I needed for the girls and it would be delivered, set up and picked up from my parents’ condo.”
During the trip Emmert, started to look into the company more.
“It got me thinking about creating a business like this in our area (Carmel). I started reading about becoming a Quality Provider through BabyQuip and it was truly a no-brainer,” Emmert said. “I already had some items that I could put into my inventory, and the option to build your inventory as you receive orders meant that I didn’t have a ton of financial risk.”
Emmert has 58 items in her inventory and continues to add to it regularly. Items range from car seats, strollers, baby monitors, toy packages, baby carriers, highchairs and much more.
“(BabyQuip carries) just about anything you could imagine you would need to live life normally, away from home, with your children,” she said. “I encourage families to reach out to me if there is an item they need that they don’t see on my website. Chances are, I can acquire that item in time for their travel.”
Each item on the website has a cost per day and cost per month (for long-term stays)/ Spelman said on average a family spends $180 per reservation to make their travels go more smoothly.
“This is a much more personal approach than asking your hotel to have a pack ‘n play available for your stay,” Emmert said. “I’m able to gather a bit more information from a customer, and if I know the ages of their children and some of their likes, I can help them customize an order or even include a little goodie bag for the children.”
For more or to make a reservation, visit babyquip.com/kelly516.
