Baby book comes out on top
Two Christchurch business women fended off 150 other contenders to win the first ‘‘dragon’s den’’ style competition held by Ballantynes department store
Lianne de Jong and Lee Scheepers won the ‘‘Bring it to the Boardroom" competition with their distinctively designed baby photo book and diary.
They had 10 minutes to pitch their product to one of a team of seven Ballantynes buyers at a ‘‘speed dating’’ event in the store boardroom on Sunday.
Their prize is to have their baby book sold in the Christchurch and Timaru Ballantynes stores for a year and they get to keep all the proceeds.
De Jong marked her own milestone this week when she left her one-year-old at a childcare centre for the first time so she could be interviewed by Stuff, and it’s the sort of event she will put into her own baby book.
The pair trade through a website under the name Marlee and Jo, an anagram of their names.
De Jong also runs a wedding events business, while Scheepers performs with her guitar at cafes, weddings and corporate events.
Scheepers said they were already developing new products.
‘‘We’ve got a pregnancy version of the photo diary ready for printing, and cards where people can place photographs of baby’s benchmarks – speaking a first word, first steps and the like.’’
‘‘We’ve got a grandparents book coming out as well, which is like having an interview with them for their grandchildren.
‘‘They write about where they grew up, what they like doing together, and they can put in photos about their lives,’’ de Jong said.
Ballantynes chief executive Maria O’Halloran said the pair’s beautiful coffee table book resonated with customers who were mothers and grandmothers.
‘‘It’s so on-trend in its design and innovation.’’
O’Halloran said other competitors presented food products, hand crafts, fashion, porcelain dolls, greenstone jewellery, hats, cushions and other goods.
The standard was so high she is considering making Bring it to the Boardroom an annual event.
‘‘The buyers had a fantastic day. They are looking at new products all the time but to see the creative ability in Canterbury and further afield all in one day was amazing,’’ O’Halloran said.