Business

April 11, 2006

LITTLE PACKAGES


Linda Dague spent nine years researching and preparing for the launch of her line of preemie clothing and accessories, ANNA’s LLC. Her patent-pending design features ultrasoft Peruvian cotton and is measured to assure proper fit for 3 to 6 pound preemies. Government data show that premature births are on the rise.

By JIM BAINBRIDGE THE GAZETTE

Linda Dague learned about the lack of suitable preemie clothing the hard way, when her granddaughter Aurianna was born at 28 weeks and all the clothes waiting in the home nursery were suddenly useless.

Trying to go out and find clothes for a 4-pound baby was a frustrating, difficult process that led Dague and her husband, Ken, to buy doll clothes at Toys-R-Us that had huge seams, nylon thread and made Aurianna cry.

That was the genesis for ANNA’s LLC, Dague’s Colorado Springs-based specialty company that deals with clothing guaranteed to fit babies 3 to 6 pounds. The company name comes from Aurianna’s nickname and the all-capital-letters
conceit is meant, Dague says, to be “an attention-getting scream” for a demographic long ignored.

For Dague, this is equal parts business and equal parts crusade to get comfortable, functional, inexpensive ($15 to $17 per item) and appropriately sized garments out there for the growing number of babies who fail to reach full term of 37 weeks.

A U.S. government study showed a 13 percent increase in premature births between 1992 and 2002, and there are now about 500,000 preemies born in the U.S. each year.

“It took a long time to get this (business) up and running,” Dague said. “The last couple of years I was talking to researchers and other medical professionals to figure out what was needed. I didn’t want to do this until I could find a manufacturer that could make it the way I wanted. I found that in Lima, Peru . . . the softest cotton in the world.”

It is a patent-pending design with Velcro catches instead of snaps and a front panel opening that allows access to monitors without undressing the child.

Dague makes the point that many firms sell clothing marked for preemies that are only a little smaller than their conventional newborn line. Those clothes may measure 17 inches wrist to wrist, when a 3 to 6 pound preemie needs only 12 inches wrist to wrist.

ANNA’s was launched Jan. 1 primarily as an Internet business (www.annaspreemie.com) selling both retail and wholesale, including deeper discounts for hospitals. She’s gotten inquiries from India, Pakistan, Canada and the United Kingdom in addition to domestic sites.

Sales have increased each month, and Dague expects a further jump after she takes her product line to trade shows in New York, Atlanta and Miami in coming months. She has eight styles now with five more in the works, including a “Take Me Home” line.

“What we’re concerned about most is the baby’s comfort,” Dague said. “Preemies are not regular babies. Their skin is rice paper thin. They have different needs, special needs, and we want to make sure what we’re offering meets those needs.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0126

or jim.bainbridge@gazette.com

ANNA'S, LLC

1670 F East Cheyenne Mt. Blvd. Suite 289

Colorado Springs, CO 80906-4050

719.244.7000 / Toll Free 888.266.2770