Bringing a Family Business Home to The Good Life

Parker Baby Co. relocates to Nebraska, breaks ground on site in Seward

Sam and Kirsten Huebner ran into roadblocks when looking to expand their Colorado-based business, Parker Baby Co. The company sells numerous baby and maternity products online to households throughout the U.S. Being able to fulfill orders quickly is a critical part of their business.

For several years, the Huebners researched building a large warehouse in Colorado to store their products. However, the cost of buying real estate, building the facility, and staffing it were too high. In addition, the local government provided little support.

“So then we asked, ‘Okay, where else would we want to live and build a warehouse?’ And Seward (Nebraska) was the top of that list,” said Sam, co-owner of Parker Baby Co.

Kirsten grew up in Seward. She met Sam there, at Concordia University, while they were both students. Given their familiarity with Seward, the Huebners knew it would be a great place to raise their kids. They were also impressed by the helpfulness of local leaders, who took time to assist them with their business expansion plans. These factors led them to move their family and business to Seward, where they broke ground this past August on a wholesale facility on the Seward Rail Campus.

Starting a family and a business

Parker Baby Co. grew out of a side project that Sam and Kirsten started after having twin daughters in 2015, while living in Colorado. As new parents, they quickly learned how much money can be spent on children’s products. While costly, many of the products they bought were not fully satisfactory to them. They saw an opportunity to make products that were superior in quality and more useful for families.

Pursuing the business idea made sense given their stage of life. Kirsten was caring for their recently born twins, and she wanted to find a role that would provide flexibility to work from home. The couple decided to launch their venture by designing their own series of bandana bibs. They sold the bibs through their website, parkerbaby.com.

“It just grew really quickly. Within a couple of years, I quit my day job and started at Parker Baby full time,” said Sam. As their business grew, their family did as well. They now have four children between the ages of six and ten. With each addition to their family—and new phase of parenthood—they have been inspired to expand their line of products. They now sell dozens of products nationwide, including diaper bags, bath care products, bottles, clothes, nursery items, and more.

Parker Baby’s sales growth encouraged Sam and Kirsten to continue developing the business. They even found a building in their county in Colorado they could renovate into a warehouse. They met with the commercial realtor, who recommended they hire a professional lobbyist to speak to local leaders to seek approval of the project.

“The thought of hiring a lobbyist to push a project that is small for them was just crazy to me,” explained Sam. “Here in Seward, we’ve attended city council meetings. We know the people, and they are excited to have us here. They really want our business here. They really want our family here.”

Nebraska’s business advantages

The Huebners had many ideas for adding products that they couldn’t implement in Colorado because of cost and space limitations. Moving Parker Baby Co. to Nebraska opened opportunities to grow their business.

“Adding basic embroidery on some of our products, to personalize them for our customers, was going to be difficult to do in Colorado because of space and labor restrictions,” said Sam. “That’s something that probably would have been cost-prohibitive to do in Colorado. But here we can do it.”

Nebraska’s central location is allowing Parker Baby to consolidate product storage, at its own facility, rather than using third-party warehouses in California, Utah, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

“All of our containers will come by train to Omaha, and then they will be trucked here [to Seward]. We’ll unpack them and store everything here. And then we’ll do all our fulfillment out of our warehouse,” explained Sam. “Nebraska is a great location because it’s centrally located in the country. We can get to most of the country in three days or less with UPS ground. That is huge for us. We don’t have to have multiple locations.”

“There are so many appealing parts of operating this in Nebraska on the business side,” Sam remarked. “We realized right away – whether it was the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership or the Nebraska Department of Economic Development – there are so many resources for us. It felt like there was a desire for our business to be here in the state. That was really pulling us here.”

A great place to grow

Nebraska’s affordability, central location, and supportive business climate have made it possible for the Huebners to explore even more ways to grow Parker Baby.

They are looking to hire local staff to create products on-site, rather than having them made elsewhere and shipped to Seward. “We’re excited to bring some of these things that were outside our business internally so we can coach people up and get people jobs they are proud of here in Seward,” said Sam.

One of Parker Baby’s newest ventures is creating a sub-brand called Parker Kids, marketed to school-aged children. It will offer lunch bags, backpacks, hats, and other products that can be customized and embroidered. Kids will also be able to add decorative patches that can be Velcroed onto their backpacks or lunchboxes.

Being back in Nebraska, the Huebners are experiencing why the state is known as a great place to raise a family. “For our kids this has been awesome. To see them get on a bike and go to the library or to the gas station to get a snack – that freedom has been really cool for them,” said Sam. “People are just so friendly. I had a guy help me unload my moving truck for three hours. We have great neighbors. Just how welcoming everyone has been to our family is awesome!”

Sam and Kirsten are glad they decided to return to Nebraska. “We’re excited to invest in the people and community here the same way they have invested in us,” said Sam. “It’s a cliché, but the people are so great. Our vision is to nurture and grow strong families, and the best way to do that is through the people.”