21 Monday, August 9, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com U' student ranks among top five in business contest 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.coin ANDREW LAPIN Editor in Chief BRAD WILEY Business Manager 734-764-0558 Upholstered furniture caught fire on the porch of the rental house at 928 South State St. on the morning of Apr. 3. Vote looms on A 2 couch ban Engineering senior proposes online retail site for baby clothes By BRIENNE PRUSAK Daily StaffReporter Parents burdened by the cost of baby clothes may soon have an inex- pensive option after one University student's efforts to design an online retail service. Engineering senior Allen Kim has become the first student from the University to be selected as one of the top five finalists in Entrepreneur Magazine's College Entrepreneur of the Year competition for his compa- ny, Bebaroo, which he described as "Netflix for baby clothes." Bebaroo.com offers a service where parents can dress their young children - between the ages of zero and two - "more affordably, more conveniently and more stylishly," Kim said. Kim said the inspiration for the company came from his own expe- rience with a family member who complained about the cost of baby clothes, notably those for special occasions. The website, he said, allows par- ents to order clothes available on the website and send them back for free once their child either no longer needs them or has outgrown them. Bebaroo currently ships clothes to locations nationwide. Kim added that by using Bebaroo, parents rent clothes for a fraction of the retail prices because they pay a fixed monthly subscription price instead of buying individual clothes. However, parents have the option of also purchasing the clothes at dis- counted prices. Bebaroo offers different monthly pricing plans, depending on how many clothes or brands parents would like to rent, according to Kim. Kim said be and Luis Calderon - the co-creator of Bebaroo - start- ed working on the business after attending the University's Bay Area Entrepreneur Experience trip to San Francisco in March, which was sponsored by the Center for Entre- preneurship and the Zell Lurie Institute. While on that trip, the pair was able to surveyover a hundred parents by visiting shopping malls, day care centers and online forums, Kim said. He added that they received positive feedback from parents, which gave them confidence that the venture could succeed with the demand for affordable baby clothing. Kim also said the Bay Area Trip helped them recognize the feasibility of Bebaroo after gaining the atten- tion of several venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. He said he and Calde- ron plan to work on the business full- time after graduation. After creating this concept, Kim said he applied to Entrepreneur Magazine's College Entrepreneur of the Year competition by submitting a business concept, target customer profile and proposed company mis- sion statement. Kim said he believes that Bebaroo was selected as one of the five final- ist companies, because there are no other baby clothes rental services in the country and that the novelty of the idea may change the way parents clothe their kids in the future, "I want to think that being recog- nized as a finalist for this competi- tion means there is that much need for this kind of service available for parents," he said. Entrepreneur Magazine will announce the winner of their Col- lege Entrepreneur of the Year com- petition by Sept. 15. The winner will be profiled in Entrepreneur Maga- zine's January issue as well as in a follow-up article in the December 2011 issue. The winner of the competition will alsoreceive $5,000 to start their business, a $500 gift certificate for The UPS Store, a selection of Entre- preneur Press books and a year's subscription to Entrepreneur Maga- zine. Kim added that winning the com- petition would also showcase Michi- gan's entrepreneurial community as having many networking opportuni- ties with investors, alumni and busi- ness mentors. "For the first time a Michigan stu- dent has been selected as a finalist of this contest, and I want to bring the trophy back home," Kim said. CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom News Tips Corrections correcr LetterstotheEditor torhed PhotolDepartment p ArtsSection arts, Editorial Page oe SportsSection -, Sales ClassifiedSales a, Finance Office hours: i.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 ?urs@rn i ch igand a i(y. corn ins @rn iclzigarndailyxorn ail y@m ichigandaily.conn City Council reads ordinance prohibiting upholstered furniture on porches By DYLAN CINTI Daily StaffReporter AtitsmeetingThursdaynight, the Ann Arbor City Council approved a first reading of an ordinance that would prohibit upholstered furni- ture on porches citywide, according to councilmember Mike Anglin (D- Ward 5) in an interview on Friday. The ordinance comes four months after a deadly on-campus blaze that authorities suspect start- ed with an outdoor couch catching fire, according to an April 5 article in The Michigan Daily. The Apr. 2 fire gutted a rental house at 928 South State St., killing one tenant and injuring two others, the Daily article reported. Since then, councilmember Christopher Taylor (D-Ward 3) 0 backed the current ordinance. As Anglin pointed out, this is not the first time council has discussed a ban on upholstered furniture on porches. In July 2004, the council con- sidered a similar ordinance that sought to ban upholstered furni- ture on porches and impose a $100 fine for violators, the Daily article reported. The 2004 ordinance stated that "placing upholstered furniture on front porches can create fire con- ditions near the primary entrance/ exit that can impede the occupants' abilities to escape from a fire." Ann Arbor city council indefi- nitely proposed that ordinance in August 2004. The current ordinance is set for a second reading in late September, at which point council will vote on it, Anglin said. According to Anglin, council- members will use the interim to gather feedback from their constit- uents and listen to speakers slated to address council on the issue. 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