Business: Have baby gear, will travel

Young families visiting wine country? Babyierge will set you up...|

'I'm running an entirely new type of business, bringing the benefits of the collaborative economy to parents and grandparents in Sonoma as well as visitors,' says Laila Subaie.

Babierge – as in, baby concierge – connects families with 'trusted partners' who rent, deliver and set up baby gear at their home, hotel or vacation rental and then return to pick it up on departure day.

Subaie is the platform's 'trusted partner' in wine country.

Born and raised in Sonoma Valley, Subaie attended Sassarini Elementary School, Altimira Middle School and Sonoma Valley High School, where she was class of 2002. She was a founding member and board president of the Shop LTD, a drug and alcohol free concert venue once located in the Dowling Magnet Factory, which was dedicated to giving teens in the Valley something to do at night.

Her roots in the community run deep. Subaie's brother and sister-in-law are both local business owners in Sonoma and her mother, Billie Perez, was a teacher at Sassarini for more than 40 years prior to retirement. Her father, Bob Subaie, owned or partnered in several high-end restaurants in Sonoma before 'retiring' into the wine world.

Eight years ago, Subaie and her husband Drew Galvin moved to Napa where Subaie has a day job as director of sales operations at Miner Family Winery. Prior to that, she held management roles at several wineries, including both Anaba and Roche wineries in Sonoma.

Today, Subaie fills a unique niche of renting a wide variety of baby gear for local and visitors throughout the region. Subaie offers dozens of options including full-size wooden cribs, car seats, high chairs, strollers, infant swings, exersaucers, toys, books, Legos and a lot more. She carries high-end products from brands like Chicco, Graco, Ergo, Orbit, Baby Jogger, BOB and others. Everything is cleaned before it goes out and again when it comes in. Everything is in tip-top shape and insured, she says.

Prices range from $3 a day for baby gates and monitors to $9 a day for pack-and-play cribs to $16 for double strollers.

If a customer wants an item she doesn't carry, she'll go out and buy it in order to rent it to them.

'I just delivered a baby enclosure to a customer in Sonoma yesterday at 5 p.m., just minutes after Amazon delivered it to me,' she said.

With baby gear sometimes a big-ticket item for young families, one growing market for Subaie is new parents who rent gear for a few days to try it out before buying it. Subaie maintains an entire 'try before you buy' section.

Grandparents are also a big business. In addition to cribs and strollers and humidifiers and other things a grandparent might need to make a home 'comfortable' for a visiting grandchild, she also rents book packages and toy packages, water tables to play with in the backyard, beach day packs, wagons for the 4th of July, and more. When the kids go home, she comes by, breaks down and packs up the gear and gets it out of your hair until next time.

'My customers rent their gear in advance and then I show up at the airport, their hotel or vacation rental and have the gear set up and waiting for them,' she said. 'It takes a lot of the hassle out of vacation travel for families.'

She also can create custom kids play areas for weddings, festivals, backyard barbecues and more.

Subaie can be found online at babierge.com/laila559

Email business news to lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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