It all started when Netflix--the online movie rental giant--began persuading movie junkies to give up weekly Blockbuster runs to try something new. Now Netflix is providing their service to more than seven million loyal subscribers. Entrepreneurs like Lori Pope are catching on to the popularity of the online rental trend. In October 2007, Pope launched Baby Plays, a web-based online toy rental service based in Houston. A mother of two, she got the idea after becoming frustrated with piles of toys cluttering her house as her infant twin sons lost interest in them. So Pope scoured the internet to find a similar service. When her search showed zero results, she knew she was on to something.
Baby Plays currently offers about 200 toys for newborns through preschoolers. Like Netflix, customers build a wish list of the toys they'd like to rent, and Pope's staff sends parents four or six toys in the mail every month. Pope makes an effort to stock sturdy and easy-to-clean toys with parts that are easily replaced. Rates range from $28.99 to $35.99 a month based on the length of the term. When children are done with them, the toys can be shipped back in the same box they were sent in, with a postage-paid return label provided by the company. New toys are shipped out when the old ones are received.
So far, Pope has invested $250,000 of her own money, and continues to put in $12,000 more each month. Parents have spread the word, and Pope’s concept is catching on. Though Baby Plays started with 10 customers, Pope says she now has about 200 customers nationwide. Thanks to the popularity of her idea, Pope predicts she'll turn a profit by this fall.
Posted by Kristin Edelhauser at 02/12/2008 11:00:04 PM