Store owner Alexis Kallen sorts through a new shipment of cloth diapers, a recent addition to Belly Baby and Beyond's offerings. Photo by Jill fankhauser

Kallen brings Cora to work with her most days and juggles business and mommy-hood as best she can.

Cora is potty training, so everything in the store stops when it's potty time, Kallen said. Her clientele understand.

Kallen owns Belly Baby and Beyond, which opened in 2007 with the goal of providing flattering and affordable maternity clothes and baby accessories.

Her pregnancy with Cora inspired Kallen to open the store.

Kallen had trouble finding time to go to Anchorage get what she needed. She knew there had to be other moms in Eagle River who felt the same way.

“So I decided to open a store out here to try to help moms in the area to have somewhere to go, plus it was nice to have somewhere you could get nice maternity and children's clothing,” Kallen said.

Kallen offers a buy-back program for gently used maternity and baby clothes, and small equipment like strollers, swings or bouncers. Customers can sell clothes for cash or store credit.

Kallen is picky about items she chooses to buy - nothing with stains or holes - and tries to keep current with fashion trends.

At Belly Baby mothers-to-be can try on several different brands of clothes, from Gap and Old Navy to chic boutique brands. Just-like-new pants hang on the rack for $7.99 and stylish tops sell for $5.99. Top boutique brands may cost more, but Kallen strives to keep clothes affordable.

When pricing Kallen thinks about what she could afford, and when selecting clothes she thinks about what she would buy.

“It's nice to splurge, and you do want to do it every so often, but the products I try to bring in here, realistically normal people could buy,” she said.

Belly Baby carries a wide-range of sizes and items. Maternity clothes range from small to plus sizes and children's clothing goes from preemie to size 6. Kallen also offers a large selection of new baby clothes, shoes, blankets, carriers, belly supports, nursing bras, cover-ups and other nursing products, as well as organic mom and baby skin products.

Moms and moms-to-be come in regularly to shop the ever-changing collection of clothing and gear, as well as offer ideas on products they'd like to see. Kallen recently decided to carry cloth diapers, a tough product to find in Alaska. Local moms suggested brands for Kallen to research and Kallen used their advice to settle on a brand.

Shelf space is limited in the store's current location, on the corner of South Juanita Loop and the Old Glenn Highway, but that is about to change.

Belly Baby will move a few blocks south to the Eagle River Mini Mall, where Kallen will be expand her retail area. Part of the move will include sharing space with her sister, Rachel Sabado. Sabado is opening a women's clothing consignment boutique called Red inside the same store as Kallen's Belly Baby.

The combined boutiques are set to open the first week of June.

Most of Kallen's customers live in the area, but some come from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley. The business is successful because of local loyal customers, Kallen said.

“I have to thank the customers that do keep coming in because I have quite a few who come here before they go anywhere else,” Kallen said.

Kallen has been tempted to move her store to Anchorage, especially when she started to grow out of her current space, but all she has to do is remember her roots to put those thoughts to rest.

“The main reason I opened the store is because I am an Eagle River mom and I was bummed out that nothing was out here. I couldn't justify moving it into town.”

Store hours are Monday: 11 a.m. — 4 p.m. Tuesday — Saturday: 10 a.m. — 6 p.m. New Address: Eagle River Mini Mall, 12551 Old Glenn Highway

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, May 29, 2008.