- The name of your store and where you are located.
We’re Store of Daydreams, an unique kids boutique, located in Laren (NH) The Netherlands (Europe). We do also have an online shop : www.storeofdaydreams.com. We have customers from all over the world, from Australia and Asia to the USA and everything in between.
- Tell us about your background and how the idea of your retail store came about
I was working as a fashion designer in New York City but in 2012 we moved back to The Netherlands. While applying for jobs I started a small webstore with unique kids fashion moreas a 'joke' but it became serious business very quick. And now after a small we even have opened a real retail store which is a dream coming to live. While working for Stella McCartney and Beyond Vintage during my time in NY I became aware of unique, sometimes small, fashion brands. I'm always hunting for these new upcoming and hard to find labels such as La De Dah Kids. We are even the only retailer in The Netherlands selling this brand for which we are very proud of!
- Where do you look for inspiration?
We’re visiting fairs like Playtime Paris and Ciff Copenhagen to see new trends but before attending these shows we already know what’s new or on trend. Every year I give a trend reading and workshop at my old university. This keep me uptodate on the latest trends, watching Instagram, Pinterest and several blogs are important online channels to get inspiration. Also Milk Magazine is one of my favourites!
- What are some of your favourite items in store and why?
We’re always in love with our brands as we only buy what we love ourselves. Brands like La De Dah Kids, Tiny Cottons, BangBang Copenhangen, Mini Rodini, Louise Misha.. uh.. so almost everything :) We are totally in love with the mint coloured Unicorn and the panda cushion has become one of favourites as well!
- What is your favourite thing to do when you aren’t at the shop?
Even when I'm physically not in the shop, my mind is there ;) Always busy with looking at orders or social media which is on 24/7. But when I do find some time for myself I love to visit one of the Dutch Islands, Texel. Which is a perfect place to relax, hike in the forest, walking on the beautifull sandy beaches and just do nothing. You'll probably see me posting a picture of it on Instagram when I'm there.
- Do you have a favourite country to visit in Europe and why?
Yes we love Sweden and Denmark. These countries have the most beautiful nature and friendly locals. We do love the food in Italy and France but we love the country side of Sweden and Denmark. Also Stockholm and Copenhagen are two capitals that you have to visit once in your lifetime. We’re going there very often because we just love love love Scandinavia. Also The Netherlands is very pretty and beautiful but we’re a very small country to visit. Amsterdam is quite cool, we have a very nice old city center and we love the people, food and style but we prefer Scandinavia!
- Do you have any travel tips for travelling within Europe?
Ow yes we do ! We love a couple of countries so you can make a round-trip. When you book a flight to Copenhagen (2-3 days) you can rent a car and drive in 7 hours from Copenhagen to Amsterdam (2-3 days). You have to visit the city center, visit the Anne Frank House, Stedelijk Museum, do a cancel tour by boat, visit the 9 streets for shopping and unique shops and you have to visit the Old Amsterdam Cheese Store. These stores are from Sander (my lovely boyfriend) and his brother and father. Store of Daydreams is located in Laren, that’s just 25 minutes from Amsterdam. After Amsterdam you have to visit Antwerp (1 day) / Brussels (1 day). After Belgium you can take the car again because Paris is just 2/3 hours left. Go to Paris for 3 days and visit the beautiful city and go with kids to Disneyland Paris as well. Also other cities are very pretty like : St.Tropez, Nice, Montpellier in France. Milan, Rome and Venice in Italy. But also the Alps are very very nice to see during the winter and spring. We love love love Scandinavia so nice places to visit is Sweden are : Stockholm, Malmö, Göteborg but also the northern part is so beautiful and quiet. In Denmark you have to visit Copenhagen and we love the beach around Odense. In Norway you have to visit Sognefjord and the Hardangervidda. Those the national parks are sooo beautiful.
- We are lovers of food at La De Dah Kids, so what are some of your favourite local cuisines’?
Hahaha, the Dutch cuisine is not that special but when you go to Amsterdam you have to eat the Dutch pancakes. I prefer the one with apple and cinnamon. A nice snack and typical Dutch are French fries with mayonnaise and a handmade beef croquette. We love them :P! These 2 things are not healthy but so jummie! Also you have to try the Dutch cheeses, in our family-owned cheese stores you will find different kinds of cheese like our famous family brands : Old Amsterdam and Maaslander cheese. Typical Dutch food is also potatoes with veggies and meat or fish. But what you see in Europe is that we all eat a lot of different types of food, like Spanish, Italian etc. But Store of Daydreams love love love the italian food. Home made pizza and pasta are the best!
- Tell us about your typical day.
We start each day with a cup of tea and a nice breakfast in our shop! This is always a nice start of the day. Before opening the store we print all the online orders, pick all the items in store and pack everything nicely. We have customers from all over the country so they’re always visiting us. We opened our store just 3 months ago so we’re brand new and sometimes also unknown for the local people. We do love our customers! We love to bring them a big big smile on there faces and each time when they are visiting our store we would love to show them our new items. I feel privileged that we have customers visiting us who are taking the time to visit us and come from north to south. Even people from Belgium and famous local celebrities! So our store is also our office, showroom, everything. Now we’re planning our visits to Playtime Paris and Ciff Copenhagen. We’re checking all the new brands to see if it will fit in our store and if it’s nice to buy…We have to answer also a lot of e-mails from all over the world about requests and orders so it’s always nice to get and see these lovely emails. And off course instagram is one of our to do’s each day ;)...