Sprout Soup

We fell in love with the Chico Bag style of reusable bags. The ingenious design makes the bag easy to bring with you, and of course that’s the point! A generously-sized shopping bag made from durable nylon, easily packs into a smaller bag sewn into the inside of the larger bag, and a smartly-placed clip makes it easy to attach to your purse or bag so your Chico Bag is always with you.

We’re taking the great features of the Chico Bag one step further for our Sprout Soup customers. We had Chico Bags create the Sprout Soup Bag, the same great bag, now with the Sprout Soup logo! It comes in three colors: purple, green and mango. Pick one up at the store for $6.95 or order online. But we’re going to sweeten the deal! Not only do you get an awesome, packable, unforgettable reusable shopping bag, but every time you bring it in to Sprout Soup, we’ll give you $1 off!

It’s our way of saying thanks for helping us all kick the single-use bag habit. We love it when our customers bring their own bag to the store. Or if they just tuck their purchases into their purse or diaper bag. We even think it’s great if customers just carry their items out of the store (after paying for them, of course ;)). But now you have no excuse for forgetting your reusable bag, and you even have an incentive to bring it back to the store. We’ll be thrilled to see our customers walking out with Sprout Soup Chico Bags brimming with Sprout Soup goodies!

And of course you can use your Chico Bags around town, too! Make sure to let everyone know you got it at Sprout Soup!

The fine print. Each Sprout Soup Chico Bag is $6.95 plus tax. In order to redeem your Sprout Soup Bag Club discount, you must make a purchase of at least $10 before sales tax. Each bag owner is entitled to one discount per day. Your Sprout Soup Chico Bag must be present to redeem. Lost bags will not be replaced, sorry! But clip the bag to your purse or diaper bag so you always have it with you! We reserve the right to cancel the Sprout Soup Bag Club at anytime.

March 1, 2009 - NY Times - One Ride Forward, Two Steps Back

The first line of this Op-Ed piece in the New York Times says it all:

ARE forward-facing strollers having a negative effect on babies’ language development?

Your baby’s first three years is a time of great neurological growth and the brain grows faster in those short three years than during any other time. And guess who is baby’s best teacher in those years? You!

But you don’t have to do anything special or be anyone superhuman. Babies learn by watching. And as studies in Great Britain have found, babies who are pushed in forward-facing strollers have less chance to interact with their parents. These interactions are critical!

When your baby (or child) is facing you, there is naturally more of an inclination to converse. It’s not very often you see two people looking at one another and not talking. And lets face it, we’re drawn to look at babies! They’re so cute and hard to keep our eyes off of!

Read the article because it raises some good questions, but lets push a little farther here.

There’s certainly nothing intrinsically wrong with stroller use. Even this article is not dissing the stroller, just calling into question the way we use the stroller. But, being that we’re Sprout Soup and happen to be proud of the fact that we have the largest selection of baby carriers in Central Ohio, we think ditching the stroller, leaving the carseat carrier in the car and saving your arms with a baby carrier is the way to go.

Aside from the benefits of bringing the baby closer to you, right where conversing is easy, a baby carrier adds one benefit to the toward-facing stroller. It brings baby up to adult level, letting her see what you see, experience life right along side you.

While lying in a stroller looking up at a doting and talkative mom might be great for language development, the rest of baby’s view is pretty boring. Ceiling tiles, rafters, overhead lights. But a baby in a carrier sees what you see. Think about it.

Our first-ever Sprout Swap is upon us! We have a roomful of gently used baby carriers and cloth diapers, some are in excellent condition, you’d hardly know they were used! This is a great way to stock up on items for your little one, whether they are ready for the next size up or you are looking for a new way to carry your growing babe.

The swap begins promptly at 10am on Friday, February 20, shop early for the best selection! Our hours this weekend and for the swap are as follows:
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Every item in the swap is tagged and labeled with the item’s brand and size (as best as we could determine) and a price, most of which were set by the item’s owner. To whet your appetite here are some of the items we have available at this swap:

• Hotslings, both designer and pool pouches
• Kangaroo Korner fleece and cotton adjustable pouches
• Kozy Mei Tai carriers
• Ergo, Beco, Olives and Applesauce Structured Carriers
• Fuzzi Bunz in sizes XS through XL
• Bummis Wraps
• Kissaluvs contours and snaps
• Swaddlebees organic velour fitted diapers and pockets
• One-size pockets: BumGenius, Haute Pockets, Happy Heiney’s
• Prefolds and Snappis
• Wool soakers, longies and shorties
• Plus a $1 bin!

This is the first and only event of its kind in Columbus and all of Central Ohio! Come on in and join the fun!

Haven’t been to Sprout Soup before? Here’s where Sprout Soup is located.