In addition to a full selection of toys and baby care items, the new Clinton Hill store also features home goods, strollers, books - and even haircuts in the car-inspired mini salon
The folks at Pipsqueak Children's Shoppe, the neighborhood toy treasure chest in Bed Stuy, are making moves and just opened their second store in Clinton Hill. Aside from featuring a full selection of toys and baby care items, the Clinton Hill store also offers home goods, strollers, books - and even haircuts in the car-inspired mini salon.
"Our two stores are very different from each other, as we try to offer products and items based on the needs of the different neighborhoods," said Alejandro Escalante, owner of Pipsqueak Children's Shoppe. "In our new Clinton Hill store we greatly expanded our selection of books and now also provide services such as haircuts."
Pipsqueak Children's Shoppe, which opened its doors five years ago, is owned and operated by Alejandro, Andres and Melissa Escalante, a family who immigrated from Venezuela, due to the difficult political climate in the country, and settled in Bed Stuy. They decided to open Pipsqueak Children's Shoppe after they were searching for a gift for their cousin's first birthday and realized that there were no toy stores in their neighborhood. Having already owned and operated toy stores in their home country, they took matters in their own hands and brought the family business to Bed Stuy.
Despite having been in the toy store business for years, the family faced some initial challenges, such as understanding the neighborhood's needs and wants which, as they recognized, were quite different from what customers demand in Venezuela.
"Customers here in Brooklyn are very conscious about what they buy, where and how it was produced, what they give to their children - basically, where they put their money," said Alejandro. "Initially, to understand the neighborhood's needs was quite a challenge. Fortunately, our customers were very supportive and patient while we worked on improving and expanding our inventory."
With the support and patience of family, friends and customers, Alejandro, Andres and Melissa continued to grow and now opened their second store in Clinton Hill. They also welcomed Bed Stuy-native and toy store veteran Jon Vasquez, who joined the team and helped revamp Pipsqueak's image, and carefully curated a selection of brands and specialty items to cater to the diverse community of families living in Brooklyn.
And truly being in touch with the demands of the local community, and with parents who no longer wanted to travel into other neighborhoods for their children's haircuts, Pipsqueak Clinton Hill also features a car-inspired mini hair salon - to take care of all the needs of little Brooklynites.
