Happy Halloween!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween from Everyone at CWDkids!

Reminder - Don't Miss the Savings!

Only 1 Day Left!

Shop TODAY and save 10% on any regularly priced items by Sara's Prints. Enter code CEY222 at checkout.

Offer ends 11:59PM on 10/31/08. Cannot be combined with any other discounts or promotions.

Hartstrings Jumpers - Online Only!

Don't miss these great jumpers from Hartstrings. They are not offered in our catalog so you will have to snag them at cwdkids.com!

We just added them to the website, but they are so cute they will not last long!

Buy now and be ready for the months ahead!

Candy canes for December

Snowflakes for January

Hearts for February

and Polka dots to welcome in Spring!

A Special Birthday Gift!

If you are not currently subscribed to CWDkids' email updates, click here to register.

If you have been receiving our email updates, click here to update your information.

We will email you a special birthday offer during your child or grandchild's birthday month! It's that simple!

THE Must-Have Item of the Season - Leggings!

Leggings are definitely a hot trend right now!

We LOVE this latest trend because not only will your children look fashionable, but the style is age appropriate and comfortable to boot!

We have tons of fabulous options to get this look and customers are buying them like crazy... apparently the kids fashion experts at About.com think this is the must-have item this season too!

Read their entire article here.

Then click through any of the links below to check out all of the great looks that we have to pair with girls leggings.

Plaid Jumper and Legging
Cable Cardigan, Stripe Tunic and Legging
Dot Dress and Legging
Mod Print Babydoll Dress and Legging
Paisley or Leopard Babydoll Dress and Leggings
Zebra Tee, Skirt and Legging
Stripe Babydoll Sweater and Legging
Butterfly Tiered Dress and Legging
Dots Dress and Legging

Don't miss these looks perfect for the holidays!

Angel Dress and Legging Set
Snowman Dress and Legging Set
Stripe Christmas Tree Dress and Legging

New Markdowns up to 65% Off!

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the announcement of our giveaway winner!


Be the first to shop New Fall Markdowns! Save up to 65% on these popular items.

Don't forget to check out all items on sale now at CWDkids!

PS - The winner of our $100 Gift Certificate Giveaway from our 10/20/08 post about Mom's clothing is Becky who posted the comment below. Becky, please email us by 10/31/08 at support@cwdkids.com to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone who posted!

My name is Becky and I am addicted to the funky, bold, beautiful prints of Pink Ginger! I would love to see adult coordinates for J345 (Feeling Groovy dress), J351 (Big Splendor dress), and J353 (Print Bubble Sleeve dress/Bold and Beautiful). I loved the article you posted, but I don't think that the issue is simply that adults want to dress as if they were literally Forever 21. I think Moms want clothes that are energetic, exuberant, and have personality. We want color and playfulness. We don't want embarrass ourselves by dressing too young, but we don't want to dress like we're headed to the Early Bird special either. The Pink Ginger prints fit the bill perfectly! They also have a retro feel that reminds me of some of the more funky fashions grown ups wore during my childhood in the 1970s. Too often, adults are expected to wear staid clothes with just handbags or scarves as accent pieces. A few years ago, I looked in my closet and saw way too many blacks, greys, and navys. I've been making an effort to pick up more color and patterns ever since. that I think would be really great for adults would be either skirts or tops in one of these bold Pink Ginger prints, paired with a solid top or skirt. I also love J428 (Flowers by Zoe Sequin Stripe dress), and would wear something like that for special occasion wear. Thanks for carrying these fun brands. I'll keep buying them for my daughter...and imagining them on me!

CWDkids' Characters

Profile #19 - Jean

While Jean does not technically work for CWDkids, she has become a part of our family over the past 12 years. She is the account rep at our fulfillment center and has worked with us so long that we have adopted her as a honorary staffer!

Officially, Jean's job duties include ensuring that the computer systems, call center, distribution center and supporting vendors are handling business per our requirements and policies, conducting business analytics to support and grow CWDkids' business, and partnering with CWDkids on new ventures. To us, she is the Jean-of-all-trades! She will tackle virtually any project that we throw her way. She knows so much about the fulfillment industry that we rely on her expertise heavily. We are so thankful of her knowledge, but more importantly for her work ethic. She is ALWAYS there when we need her!

Jean has worked in the catalog and web industry for over 20 years. From call center associate, returns processor, customer service supervisor to account support, she has worked for so many departments that she has a very well rounded understanding of all processes which allows her to advise us on all of our fulfillment processes as well as other marketing and business initiatives.

When asked why she enjoys working with CWDkids (we assume that she must having stuck with us for so long) she says, "There is one common goal at CWDkids and that is to make customers happy and always look for new ways to delight the customers further. I was welcomed into the family many years ago and I have never been treated as a vendor. CWDkids has supported me both professionally and personally and watched me grow and mature through the years. I am completely united with CWDkids in the goal to delight the customer and as a customer myself, have always been impressed with the quality of the product and the lengths this company will go through to ensure that I get the right product in both appearance and sizing. I am a true cheerleader for CWDkids and my friends and family all appreciate getting a CWDkids gift from me!"

Jean will be welcoming a new customer into the CWDkids family. She is expecting her first child in the upcoming months. We are not quite sure how we will survive maternity leave without her, but we are so excited for her! In her spare time, Jean enjoys gardening and other outdoor activities, going to festivals, and spending time with her girlfriends shopping, going out to dinner or just talking. Most of her time recently has been taken up preparing her house, husband and self for the babies arrival.

Jean's Tidbits:

• I love animals and currently live with 3 dogs, 1 cat, and my cat's pet goldfish!


• I am an avid reader and have filled three bookcases in my house with books read over the past 10 years


• I love many types of music and am addicted to my satellite radio which I have installed in both my home and my car. I also enjoy live music, the more eclectic, the better!

You're a Shoe-in to Get the Best Bargains!

Our $20 Shoe Sale starts today. Please note that these bargain prices are good for a limited time only so hurry up and get them before they are gone!

CWDkids Remains Focused on the How

We are not sure how many of you read the NY Times Op-ed regularly, but we did not want you to miss this article by Thomas Friedman from October 15, 2008.

If you do not have time to read the entire thing, here is just a little piece of the article that we feel pertains to HOW we operate at CWDkids!

"Seidman basically argues that in our hyperconnected and transparent world, how you do things matters more than ever, because so many more people can now see how you do things, be affected by how you do things and tell others how you
do things on the Internet anytime, for no cost and without restraint. “In a connected world,” Seidman said to me, “countries, governments and companies also have character, and their character — how they do what they do, how they keep promises, how they make decisions, how things really happen inside, how they connect and collaborate, how they engender trust, how they relate to their customers, to the environment and to the communities in which they operate — is now their fate.”
Excerpted from "Why How Matters" by Thomas Friedman, NY Times, Oct. 15, 2008

We have been and continue to be worried about the HOW in everything that we do:We focus on finding the best quality merchandise for the best price.

• We constantly strive to give our customers clothing options for their kids that are a value.
• We buy from American companies as often as possible.
• We do quality control checks on all of our merchandise and send back items that do not meet our standards to the vendor.
• We offer a 365 day return policy... no questions asked.
• Carol Marie from our corporate office answers every customer service email personally.
• We are a small office of dedicated employees. We all have many responsibilities. We have been told over and over that one person here does the work of 3 or 4 at other catalogs and websites.
• We watch our bottom line and do not hire a new employee until we are absolutely certain that we have the work for them. As a result, we have not had layoffs.
• We care about our own employees and we care about you, our customer.

We pledge to continue focusing on the HOW in hopes that you will continue to reward us by choosing to shop at CWDkids!

If you have any ideas on HOW we can do a better job, please let us know!

Plan Ahead for When the Stockings Are Hung

Holiday pajamas for boys and girls are perfect for those Christmas morning photo ops! You know you will be wakened earlier than usual, but with these festive duds who will notice the bedhead on the kids and puffy eyes on the adults.


Comfy and cozy so your kids will want to wear these gowns, long johns, short johns, and sleepwear sets all season long...

But order early... sizes sell out quickly and you will not want to miss out!

Tell Us What You Think - $100 Gift Certificate Giveaway

We recently ran across the article below in The Davis Enterprise, a daily newspaper for Davis, CA. Since our motto is "dressing kids like kids" and so many of our customers let us know that they love our clothing because it is "age appropriate" for their kids, we found this take on dressing your age to be quite amusing.

It also got us thinking about the coordinates that we offer for Moms. We try to select outfits for mothers that they will feel good in, both fashionable and comfortable... and ones that will coordinate with their kids.

The question is "Are we hitting the mark?" We would LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. What items on our site would you like to wear if they were offered in a Mom's size?

Visit CWDkids.com. Then post a comment here (by 10/24/08) and tell us what item numbers you might like to see in your size. We will select one entry to Win a $100 Gift Certificate! Winner will be posted here on Monday October, 27, 2008.


I try to be fashion-forward in a fashion-reverse world
By Tanya Perez Enterprise columnist October 06, 2008 14:30

I saw a pretty skirt on this girl last week and thought, "How cute! That would look good on me!"

The thing is the girl was a 7-year-old at Birch Lane Elementary. (And, yes, I imagined the skirt would be a few sizes bigger. It would not look cute on me in size 6x.) It’s pretty weird that I am admiring a second-grader’s fashion sense.

But, who’s the weird one? The 43-year-old who wants to wear children’s clothes or the child who wears things a 43-year-old covets?

I’ve noticed this phenomenon more frequently in the last few years. In fact, as I gathered my last load of items to donate, I pulled a pile of shirts out of my closet that I haven’t worn in a while. At least half of the tops looked as if they could be made for my mom, judging by today’s fashion standards. When I bought them a few years ago, they seemed age-appropriate; but now, grandmotherly.

So, when do you know you’re dressing too young or old for your age? And, which is the greater crime? (Rhetorical question: I’m sure it’s dressing too young. We’ve all made fun of that 50-year-old woman wearing a belly-baring blouse and Daisy Duke shorts.) Collectively, we seem to have decided that 40 is the new 30, but does that mean that Liz Claiborne apparel is now replaced by Baby Gap duds?

Figuring out what store department to shop in is a huge conundrum. When I wander into Gottschalks, the adult women’s section has a range of shoppers between the ages of 30 and 90. This seems a bit broad as I try to zero in on my personal 40-something style. And, I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve put something back on the rack when another woman 20 years my senior picks up the same item.

But, I’m positive that the juniors section is not meant for me, either. I don’t have any tattoos, and I’m never going to wear cowboy boots with a tube top and mini skirt (again).

What I do know is that when I was a kid, children’s clothes were strictly for children. You’d never have seen my mom wearing my corduroy jumper with the bicycles all over it. (Man, that was a cool dress.)

My stylish mom suffers from this, too. She says that in the dressing room at the store, she’s sure she looks great. But, after wearing her new clothes to work, she develops doubts. If you see someone 25 years older or younger in the same sweater, it has to make you wonder.

Strangely, one of my favorite places to shop for clothes has become Forever 21. Yes, this might explain some of my confusion at dressing my age, but here’s the deal.

I had never stepped foot in the place until I was in my 40s. I avoided it because, well, I wasn’t 21. However, my fashionable friend convinced me to follow her in. Turns out, the average age of patrons in this store was about 40.5 years old (seriously, shoppers were between 11 and 70 years old). If I didn’t know for sure how to dress my age, at least I was in good company.

I am trying not to progress to even younger apparel than Forever 21, but I’ve seen myself slipping toward more juvenile clothes. Aside from the 7-year-old’s lovely skirt, recently I’ve regarded a 2-year-old’s pants as pretty wonderful.

My friend Nancy makes adorable little pants for her young daughters. When I saw these capris with the darling floral border cuffs, I begged her to make me a pair. Now, if I can just find a onesie to wear with my fancy pants.

Copyright © 2008 The Davis Enterprise. Used with permission.

$5 Shipping Friends & Family Weekend!

Spread the good news...$5 Standard Shipping all weekend, plus New Markdowns at CWDkids!

Use Coupon Code CEY5FR at checkout to receive $5 Standard Shipping on your order! Offer expires 11:59pm EST on Oct. 19. EXPIRED.

CWDkids' Characters

Staff Profile #18 - Jim (with CWDkids since 1993)

I am the fourth generation of Klauses to work in the family business. CWDkids has evolved from the old Richmond Dry Goods Company, founded by my great-grandfather in 1911. My grandfather and my dad were prescient enough to guide the company in new directions at crucial points in our history. Now it is my responsibility to lead the company in the most economically challenging times our country has faced since the 1930s.

I think our greatest strength lies in the fact that we are a family business. For me, CWDkids is not simply my economic livelihood, as important as that is. CWDkids is my family history. When my dad made the transition into children’s clothing in the 1980s, our whole family got involved. My sister answered phones and her three children (shown with me in the photos for this post) modeled in our photo shoots; my mom put on her tennis shoes and filled orders; my aunt wrote the copy for our first catalogs.

Today we are fortunate in having a great professional staff as our CWDkids family. And we have you, our loyal customers who have grown to know us over the past two decades as the place you turn to for classic clothes for your kids. One thing I know we can count on in even in uncertain times: kids keep growing! So we at CWDkids will remain committed to our core philosophy: to offer you the best quality product at competitive prices.

So many of you have thanked us for offering clothes that “let kids be kids.” We appreciate hearing from you, both with what you like and what you think we can improve upon. We hope you will use our blog as a two way street. We enjoy letting you learn about us and we like hearing from you, too!

If you have any comments or suggestions as to how we can make CWDkids an even better company, please feel free to email me directly at jimk@cwdkids.com.

Also, don't forget to enter our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a $250 shopping spree!

Jim's Tidbits:

• I love living in Richmond and learning about its history is a great hobby.
• I also love to travel and spent 4 months backpacking in Asia before I started working at CWDkids in 1993.
• My six-year old nephew, Bennet, is crazy about Star Wars. He gave us the ideas of carrying the Junk Food Star Wars tees and they are best sellers in 2008!

Make a Wise Investment

Today, more than ever, parents are looking for value when shopping for kids clothes. While value can simply mean low cost, it is much more to CWDkids! We want you to be more than satisfied with the quality of the garments that you buy from us.


We know kids grow quickly so we want you to be able to pass clothing down from one child to the next. We hand pick boys and girls outfits that we feel will stand the test of time both from a style perspective and because they are durable. We also do everything in our power to bring you the lowest prices we can for high quality brands... from our exclusive CWDkids' line to boutique brands like Anita G, Mulberribush, Sweet Potatoes and Wes & Willy to bigger national brands like Polo Ralph Lauren and Lacoste. The best thing is that they are all in one place!

We hope that more than one little one in your family and/or friends' families have been able to take advantage of the durability of our timeless fashions. And we welcome new customers to try us out!

We would love to hear your stories (and may even publish them on our blog). Please email any tidbits you would like to share regarding your personal experiences with CWDkids' clothes to cathywdaley@cwdkids.com or comment on this post.

Thank you for your continued business!

CWDkids Company Harvest Party

We love to get together as a company to celebrate. Last week we celebrated the changing of the seasons to fall with a harvest picnic. Our official "party planner" Mary Martha outdid herself with decorations, games and prizes, while our official "chef", Mark fired up the grill for delicious ribs. It certainly was a nice break from work to socialize with co-workers and play some bean bag toss!

Guess which egg has a double yolk....

Tracy and Jim playing a game of bean bag toss.

Guess which apple pie is homemade...

Mmmmmm.....good ribs!

Free Shipping - TODAY ONLY!

We really appreciate that you take time out of your busy schedules to read our daily posts, and that you outfit your kids in CWDkids' clothing.



As our THANK YOU, please take advantage of this special offer exclusively for Kidbits readers.... but hurry, it is good today (10/14/08) only!

Enter code CEYKB2 at checkout and receive FREE SHIPPING on any order of $50 or more.

Cannot be combined with any other offers. Cannot be used on previous or pending purchases.

Where Are They Now?

Ever wonder what old colleagues are up to now? We do!

We recently ran across this article in Style Weekly Magazine.

Allison Titus worked for CWDkids years ago writing copy. We always knew that she was talented! We are so happy to hear that she is happily married and doing what she loves.

Allison, congratulations on being listed as one of Richmond's Top 40 under 40.

If you happen to read this, we would love to hear from you ... and any other former CWDkids' employees for that matter.

Let us know what you have been up to - comment to this post or email us at cathywdaley@cwdkids.com. Cathy will send info along to Jim!

Last Chance Halloween Sale - Starting at $4.99!

Click Here for all New Markdowns on Halloween tee's, Halloween dresses and Halloween Pajamas. These sale items will not last much longer, so scoop them up while you can!

**Looking for our Holiday Giveaway? Click Here for details.**

Holiday Is Here - Say Cheese!

That's right....it's time to start thinking about your holiday greeting cards and what your children are going to wear!

Problem solved. Check out our line of Holiday Clothing for kids and find everything you need for the perfect family holiday portrait!

Also - Enter your family holiday photos for a chance to win a $250 CWDkids shopping spree! Email your photos to: cathywdaley@cwdkids.com by December 14. We will post the winning photo right here on kidbits on December 15.

A Big Thank You and Good Luck to Carla!

**Looking for our Holiday Giveaway? Click Here for details.**

We are letting you in on a little secret. CWDkids uses a third party fulfillment firm to handle calls to our 800 number. They handle all phone orders, customer service calls and also fulfill the orders and send them from their warehouse in Martinsvile, VA.

We have been so lucky to have a wonderfully talented representative assigned to the CWDkids account. Our main point of contact for all customer service related issues for the last 5 years has been Carla. Many of you may have spoken to her by phone. Sadly for us, she is moving into a new role (darn those promotions) and will no longer be on our account.

We were so touched my Carla's goodbye email to us, we wanted to share it with you. We hope that our customers feel as good about their interactions with CWDkids as she has.

THANK YOU CARLA! WE WILL MISS YOU, BUT WILL CONTINUE TO THINK OF YOU AS PART OF THE CWDKIDS' FAMILY!

Everyone!

What can I say? These past 5 years have been nothing short of an
education. I have been exposed to a family run business that meets and exceeds today’s definition of how to survive in the 21st century. The care and effort that is put into the daily running of CWDkids is proof that a small group of caring individuals can make a multi-million dollar business work!

I consider the time I have spent with each of you (albeit remotely) a valuable life experience. You have been more than gracious, giving and forgiving as I grew to love CWDkids as much as you do.

Please know that I will deeply miss this relationship as I go forward in my GSI tenure. If I ever have the opportunity to work with you all again, I will embrace it wholeheartedly!

I will keep up with you via kidbits!

Have a great 2008 and I look forward to your continued success in
2009.

Take care.

Carla

Fall Sale Starts Today!

**Looking for our Holiday Giveaway? Click Here for details.**

Be the first to shop our Big Fall Sale.

In addition to our exclusive CWDkids brand, we have put popular brands like E-Land, Hartstrings, Mis-Tee-V-Us and Mulberribush on sale too.

So stock up on wear now clothing or get a jump start on your holiday shopping. But act now... these savings are too good to pass up!

Happy Pumpkin Month!

**Looking for our Holiday Giveaway? Click Here for details.**

We love this photo that was sent in by Rachel!

Not only does it scream "October is here!" but she tell us that it is a photo of her children with her best friend's kids!

We know that many of our customers love the fact that we carry brother/sister coordinates... but this is the first time we have heard of multi-family coordinates!

I don't know about you, but this puts me in the mood for a visit to the pumpkin patch!

10% Off Sara's Prints - October Only!

**Looking for our Holiday Giveaway? Click Here for details.**

We know how much everyone loves Sara's Prints pajamas. We are offering all of their regularly priced sleepwear at 10% off in October only!

Whether you are in the market for long johns for boys or gowns for girls, we have a great selection of terrific styles and prints.

Just click here to start shopping. Then enter code CEY222 at checkout to receive the 10% discount now through 10/31/08.

Note: This discount cannot be combined with any other discounts or promotions. Cannot be applied to previous or pending purchases.

CWDkids' Characters

Staff Profile #16 - Mary Martha (with CWDkids since 1997)

Word of mouth...it is definitely the best advertising! Not only does most of our store traffic come from friends telling friends about us, it also helped me land a job with CWDkids! I had worked for a small specialty store for 12 years when I heard from a friend that CWDkids was looking for a manager for their new Gayton Crossing Outlet store in Richmond, VA. She had heard about the opening from a friend of hers that worked for CWDkids...sounds like a case of telephone, but luckily nothing was lost in translation and I was the lucky person to be hired for the position.

I have been managing our Gayton Crossing Outlet since 1997 and through the years have added several additional responsibilities to my plate. I am the District Manager for our three Richmond retail locations, I purchase non-catalog merchandise for the stores, I am the official event planner for company outings and activities, and many other little (but important) duties.

Plan, plan, plan is my motto... I can't stop event planning with work parties so in my spare time, I also plan birthday parties and weddings. When I do not have anything else on the calendar, I make diaper cakes for friends and to sell. I also plan outings for a group of girls (we call ourselves YAYAs) about once a month. We have done everything from river fishing trips and week long beach vacations to cookouts and movie nights!

Over my 20 some years in the children's retail field, I have collected outfits, both boy and girl in all sizes, to add to my "HOPE CLOSET" in anticipation of having a grandchild someday. This past August 10th that closet was raided for my first grandchild, Logan Andrew. Needless to say, my vacation time hence forth will be primarily used for visiting him in Georgia and my paycheck will be going back into the company as I now have someone to help dress.

Mary Martha's Tidbits:

• I love to fish... deep sea or bottom fishing, and would definitely like to learn to flyfish. I do not even mind cleaning and cooking them to eat.

• I am a chocoholic!

• I love to make something out of nothing... materially that is. Decorate everyday plastic cups to make them special for any occasion, make handmade note cards, decorate a simple tee shirt with old buttons, etc. My body sleeps, but my mind won't!

Brag Book - Customer Photos

We love this matching brother/sister pair in their Giraffe Tee and Dress. These designs are exclusive to CWDkids, you won't find them anywhere else!

Here's what their mom had to say...

"I love to buy matching clothes for my toddlers whenever possible, and these coordinating outfits are too adorable!"

Do you have a picture you would like to share? Please email cathywdaley@cwdkids.com and we just might post it right here on Kidbits. We love seeing pictures of your little ones wearing kids clothing from CWDkids.