siness
Ili
Linda Lefkowitz
and Leslie Miller
are the mothers
of seven children
and the owners
of a new
business.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
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60
hanks to plenty of first-
hand experience, Linda
Lefkowitz and Leslie
Miller know a lot about babies.
Linda and her husband
Harvey, who live in South-
field, have three children.
Their twin girls and one boy
range in age from 8 to 10.
West Bloomfield residents
Ron and Leslie Miller just
had their fourth child five
weeks ago. They're batting
.500 with two boys and two
girls. The oldest of the
crew is 8.
Ms. Lefkowitz and Ms.
Miller are hoping to capi-
talize on their knowledge
of motherhood by making
a name for themselves in
the baby business.
The longtime friends
are the owners of Just For
Baby, a one-year-old at-
home company which sells
products like baby bed-
ding, layette items for new-
borns through 24 months
and strollers.
Besides the products,
Ms. Lefkowitz and Ms.
Miller provide services like
house calls for home-
bound expectant mothers,
decorating advice and
drape-making.
"We're moms, so I think
we know what moms need
and don't need," Ms. Miller
said. "Sometimes our cus-
tomers don't want to buy
anything, but they call
with general questions and
we're more than happy to
answer them."
"I feel we offer a service
for families who don't have
a lot of time to shop," Ms.
Lefkowitz said. "More and
more families are shopping
this way or through cata-
logues because they are so
busy."
As far as these two
women are concerned,
they have nearly perfect
jobs. They are home with
their kids while their hus-
bands are off working
(Harvey Lefkowitz is a po-
diatrist and Ron Miller is
the manager of a real es-
- tate office) and they are
participating in a business they dren during a sales meeting.
If things go well with their
enjoy.
"Because I'm home, I don't home business, Ms. Lefkowitz
have to worry about day care and and Ms. Miller hope to open a
the kids don't have to break up store some day. This would hap-
their routines," Ms. Miller said. pen after their children are old-
Sometimes the women's er, of course.
"What we're making, we're
worlds of parenting and business
collide, but the meeting is usu- putting right back into the busi-
ally tinged with humor. For ex- ness," Ms. Lefkowitz said. "But
ample, on a recent Sunday, a it's exciting work, especially
customer at the Lefkowitz home when we get a chance to go to
was abruptly introduced to a shows in the area and check out
family gerbil by one of the chil- the new merchandise. The man-
ufacturers come out with new
stuff two or three times a year."
While the shows and working
with customers provide excite-
ment, there wouldn't be a busi-
ness unless the day-to-day
paperwork is done. On a recent
fall afternoon, Ms. Lefkowitz was
inside working at a dining room
table filled with items like pro-
motional materials and order
forms.
Her kids were at Akiva He-
brew Day School and the house
was quiet, so it was time
to get the work done be-
fore everyone came home.
Ms. Lefkowitz esti-
mates she and her part-
ner see about 25
customers per week, di-
vided mainly by geogra-
phy.
"We know what
moms need and
don't need."
— Leslie Miller
"Leslie gets a lot of peo-
ple from the Farmington,
West Bloomfield and
Novi areas and I get a lot
from cities like Oak Park,
Southfield and Hunting-
ton Woods," Ms.
Lefkowitz said.
Both the Lefkowitz and
Miller families are Or-
thodox, so they have
many customers from
that community. They
have other Jewish cus-
tomers and gentile cus-
tomers, as well.
A common denomina-
tor among their cus-
tomers is the person who
usually makes the pur-
chase decisions. It's nor-
mally the wife, Ms.
Lefkowitz said, but the
husband more often than
not stops by and picks up
the items. D
Linda Lefkowitz and Leslie Miller
display some of the merchandise
they offer.