Forget the terrible twos — for most baby and toddler brands, the last five years have been a struggle.

More than 3,000 stores that primarily sell baby products and children’s apparel have run into major trouble or permanently closed since 2017, including Gymboree and Babies”R”Us. However, Caden Lane isn’t like most baby and toddler brands.

The Texas-based online retailer, which is known for its range of personalized newborn clothing along with nursery décor, has gone from strength to strength since switching its focus from wholesale and brick-and-mortar sales to an online-only, direct-to-consumer business.

While big-name baby brands have folded, Caden Lane recently reported a 132 percent growth rate — earning the company a top four spot on the annual Lightning 50 league table of the fastest-growing online brands.

It’s an achievement that founder and CEO Katy Mimari links with being a female-led and female-run business.

Made by Moms for Moms

Mimari founded Caden Lane when she became a first-time mom, and all but three of her 40-person team were women, many of them moms and moms-to-be.

“This gives us a unique advantage over our competitors because we’re able to relate to and connect with our customers in a meaningful, community-like way (which is why I wanted to focus on D2C),” Mimari says. “For instance, we know how special it is to have a beautiful, keepsake newborn outfit. We know how good it feels to have a favorite swaddle that stays soft wash after wash. We know how impractical it is to do up snap fasteners after a middle-of-the-night diaper change (and how much easier knot gowns and zipped sleepsuits are). Our shared experience is poured into the creation of all our products.”

Mimari credits Caden Lane’s enthusiastic fanbase with driving the business’ impressive organic growth. However, a slick, tech-backed approach to marketing and a string of celebrity endorsements have also helped.

A-list moms, including singer Ashlee Simpson, actress Tori Spelling, and model Samantha Harris have all worked with Caden Lane to create stylish nurseries kitted out with luxury apparel and gear for their new arrivals.

Tapping Into #trends

“FOMO [fear of missing out] is a real thing … When a celebrity or influencer posts about their nursery décor or shares a snap of their newborn in a cute outfit, it causes a spike in demand or even starts a whole new trend,” notes Mimari, adding she’s tapped into this successfully, but not without challenges. Baby and nursery trends used to change every couple of months; now it’s every day or two.

Caden Lane uses Inventory Planner, connected to its Shopify-powered store, to help accurately forecast demand.

“It helps us predict how much we need to order of every item — even new products — to meet our revenue goals,” Mimari says. “Without it, ordering stock would be based on guesswork, which is never a good plan.”

To maintain a steady flow of fresh content for Caden Lane’s 850,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest, the brand has a dedicated photography studio within its headquarters where real customers and their babies are invited every week for photo shoots.

YouTube videos, including tutorials on taking the perfect newborn photo and how to swaddle a baby, have also proved a successful way to boost reach and build brand loyalty. It’s part of Caden Lane’s commitment to being there for its customers through the magical, and more challenging moments, of new parenthood.

“From offering advice on what color to paint your nursery to being honest about mom life on our podcast, we offer so much more than just ‘baby stuff,'” notes Mimari. “We’ve built a community; a network of new moms who then happily spread the word about Caden Lane when friends and colleagues get pregnant. Although we have a huge social following, direct website traffic is one of our strongest sales channels.”

Growing and Glowing

After more than doubling its revenue in just a year, Caden Lane ranked fourth on Brightpearl’s annual U.S. Lightning 50 league table and was announced as the country’s Fastest Growing Baby & Toddler Brand, according to the poll.

“I’ve built this eight-figure business from scratch as a single mom-of-three,” says Mimari. “It’s grown as my kids have grown up. I’ve worked weekends, late nights, you name it — but I’ve rarely stopped to reflect on how far we’ve come.

“As women and as mothers, we’re usually too busy to make a big deal of our achievements, but it’s time to stop being so humble. I’m very proud to be on this year’s Lightning 50, and I’m proud of the whole Caden Lane team.”

After bucking growth trends in the U.S., international expansion — including Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom — is the next big goal for Caden Lane. With a slick tech stack, winning product range, and proven marketing strategy, the brand is all set to be born again.