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' l l in - WATERLLX) cummcu: IWednesday, May 25. 201i Monke y business .t. , ‘ ° ) . 0 I 0 Waterloo moms onlme children 3 store inspired by a knitted pnmate ChronicleStafl‘ ' ith two children under two years ‘ Wold, Waterloo mom Stephanie ‘ i Choquette didn’t have time to go . ‘ out and shop. 1 When she had the time, she’d take to the ' _ , , 1 computer and do most of her shopping . . ‘ ‘ online. ‘ . She could find most of what she needed. ' 9 ‘7 . ~ but couldn't find exactly what she wanted > ,g _ 3‘2}: 54;“ . y , i= - I ‘ for her kids : ~ 3;? ‘ r 3 “E. 3,2313. 7- 3 l “I was getting frustrated trying to find \ W: USE-Zn... 'f‘ ‘.._ . ‘ products that were unique,‘ Choquette said. . I . 2D ‘ ii; if” at '13 7' . ; “When l actually found something cool, 3. ’3 '3??? is 5;,“ 3. .3 ' it was somewhere like Australia and cost $50 ' a" * .f' to ship." \ l Choquette decided to take matters into i \ here own hands in November 2010. she a. ‘ teamed up with her mother Terry McKittrick ; ‘ to open an online children's store. ,3 > ‘ They called it The Spotted Monkey. g j; "My mom calls my daughter ‘bug', like .’ . < \ '> ”f ladybu , and m son ‘monkey', so that's 3...] ., ' .: , '2‘ where gpotted donkey came from," Cho- .. {.33 r6359 StU-B: For $00G 3;" ‘ r? quette said. 1"“ V l :? McKittrick was also the inspiration for 3 , .. .f . ‘ , I, the one of the store's signature products: the f ' (73”. o" .. 1; sock money. . 7. -. L L . “She is an avid knitter and she had knit- .. z: ' _'.~7 . ’ 3 7 ted a monkey for my son and daughter. It 3" 4, it ' 7 ‘ ‘ was just the kind of thing we wanted in the ‘ ’ _ . . . . . A») store," Choquette said. -. ’ j . l r ’ The Spotted Monkey offers products "ff; "‘ from around the world â€" Scotland, Aus- 2* 4 T _ _ . tralia, England and more. , The store's motto is “sassy stuff for , . , . . , spunky kids.” That's the mantra Choquette 3 ' - » . - follows when she is looking for new prod» &_ - (it-V. ' ’ . k. I , ‘ ucts to cany in the store. “It‘s all unique. handmade and exclusive.” Terry McKittrick and her daughter Stephanie-Choouette run an online children’s shop called The Spotted Monkey. Choquette said. . ”WT” ' ‘4 The store carries a number of different to get the word out. ‘ there and shopping online.’ â€" . 5 .v 3": *‘ if s ' $753333; T??? ‘ products â€" from hand-knitted hats and toys "i joined lots of morn groups. contacted But McKitu-ick got over that quickly when WWW to purses. art supplies and more. bloggers, advertising, giveaways and just she realized how many secure payment . .- 7 _ . ‘1,- ,1 3; . g . _ .7 a {yes . 3 3 The decision to go online was an easy connecting with moms and grandmas lowl- options were online â€" as well as a large W ' - . . “J‘s-~ is: one for Choquette. Iy." she said. number of customers W “I still work fulltime, so this is something While getting the word out about The “When the stats came out for the number « ' ‘ . ' ‘ '“ ‘ ‘ . * , . , I can do after the kids go to bed,” she said. Spotted Monkey was a lot of work. Cho- of online Shoppers in Canada, I was M “We don't have to be in a store 10 hours a quette and McKittrick knew there was a cus- floored.” she said. McKittrickand 0mm _ ' * ‘ m - . . . day." tomer base to tap into. are working hard to grow the business and . ‘ ‘ Online business does pose some chal- “The number of online shoppers sur- arehopingthat inaooupleofyeusnmning 1 ‘ m â€"\ . " ‘ - lenges. There's no tan-street location win- prised me.‘ McKittrick said. the store will become a full-time job. We“ . dovw-shoppingorstopâ€"ins "l'm not of that generation. I was the The store can be found by visiting . _ . .. »_ That meant Choquette had to work hard nervous one putting my credit card out wwwtl’tespottedrnonkeyoom . ‘ . [A ., . 5‘1 ‘ -f . .. . GET YOURS AT MARKET: Healthy, beautiful 3 t ' " 2;, in ,. _ bedding plants, be» a shrubs for your garden, 5t. Jacobs . .,_~-;« , ‘ Plus fresh vegetables, fruut, bread & pastry, meat, 5 I ' cheese, international & gourmet foods, armerg ‘â€"‘= ‘ ' a . one-ofâ€"a-klnd crafts...lndoors and outSIdel V1 .3 1' â€" _ BBQ fl“: 1 ; 41 [\(E Greatcutsofmeat ‘ THURS & SAT ALL YEAR 7 to 3:30 a more for“ 9"" ‘ 3 , "I ~ d .{'|, 7“. ,1 . A.“ A! y t... 1“];l ,‘J‘;,k‘¢. . ts mlk'ukv’fifl-PE'“ Maia