“Cute” might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of squids, but Pajama Squid, the new children’s boutique in Takoma Park, is about as adorable as it gets.
Waving tentacles cheerily greet you at the shop’s front door. Owner Tiffany King says she learned about the pajama squid, a black-and-white, golf-ball-size creature, from a documentary about deep sea life. It was a “tiny little blib, just playing on the ocean floor.”
Tots and their parents will find plenty of cute things to play with in King’s store. She describes her style as “simple, colorful, inspirational,” and she aims to choose imaginative products that are well-made, fair-trade and nontoxic. Brightly colored, retro-inspired clothes for newborns to 6-year-olds line the racks. Many are made of organic cotton; some are handmade.
In addition to clothes, King stocks toys, many of which are made of unpainted wood and cloth. “One of the biggest things is that the companies benefit the environment,” she says. And she works hard to find good literature for readers up to age 12, she says. “Each book is quality.”
Going into her third month in business, King says her customers are mainly local: “Moms bringing the kids in, getting a book or a little something. Lot of birthday purchases.” Older children stop by to trade their allowances for the old-fashioned candy she stocks in big glass jars.
And who wouldn’t want to get their tentacles on a few fruit-flavored squid gummies?
By Mary Ellen Slayter, The Washington Post, June 29 2008
