Parents and business owners unite for first-ever Mommy Expo

By Lacey Morris

EDMONTON — The West Edmonton Christian Assembly will be transformed into a tradeshow playground for parents and their children on Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Featuring over 50 vendors from the Edmonton area, several of which are based in the west end, the inaugural Mommy Expo will primarily showcase products for children, by local business owners, many of whom know all about parenting from first-hand experience.

“[We thought] it would be a great idea to have something like this in our neighbourhood to profile some of the local businesses, since all three of us are community-based business owners,” said Allison Anderson, one of the organizers of the expo and a west-end-based “mompreneur.”

Momtrepreneurs
From left: Trisha Hillaby, Nicola Doherty and Allison Anderson, the ‘mompreneurs’ behind the organization of west Edmonton’s inaugural Mommy Expo, chat amongst themselves while enjoying hot beverages at the Hamptons neighbourhood Starbucks, at 199 Street and 62 Avenue, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. Photograph by Lacey Morris

Anderson, along with Hamptons mompreneur friends Nicola Doherty and Trisha Hillaby, came up with the idea for a parent-oriented trade show after meeting at a similar northeast Edmonton event. They agreed that it would be great for parents and business owners of the west end to have the opportunity to network and exchange products and parental words of wisdom.  The idea for the Mommy Expo was born.

“Nothing of this nature has ever been done in this neighbourhood before, and if you look at the demographics, it’s all young families,” said Hillaby, who also lives in the Hamptons, a newly developed west-end community that falls between Hemingway Road and 200 Street.

Networking is an essential part of a trade show, Hillaby said. It’s a good way for local business owners to get to know each other and spread the word.

“We really wanted to spotlight unique and local vendors. Some of the others are my best customers,” she said.

The three organizers each own their own parent-child-oriented business, the kind that can and will be showcased at the Mommy Expo.

Hillaby is a representative of Peekaboo Beans — a business run by Vancouver-based mom Traci Costa. She describes the company as a retailer of Lululemon-type fashion for kids.

“Peekaboo Beans provides ingredients for a playful life by designing playwear for kids that’s fun and functional, durable, and practical and super stylish,” she said.

Anderson operates a family photography business named after her daughter, (Teagan Photography), and Doherty runs the online children’s product retailer Sprogs.ca.

Several other independent businesses from the Edmonton area will be showcasing their products and services, including:

On top of providing parents with a shopping experience, the Mommy Expo will also feature spa-type services so moms can take a break for a foot massage or a haircut. The expo will also have a kid’s zone, a play castle, a face painter, a traveling salon and the Cold Stone Creamery, Doherty said.

“The great thing about having it at the West Edmonton Christian Assembly is they’ve got this gigantic gym and they’ve also got a coffee shop that they’re opening for us, so if there’s a lineup, you can stop and get a coffee and you don’t have to herd in like a bunch of elephants,” she said.

Hillaby added that Olympic gold medal figure skater Jamie Sale, who is also a west Edmonton mom, will also be in attendance briefly with her son to sign autographs.

“I think having her at our show will give us exposure because she has such a celebrity appeal,” Hillaby said. “I think that will help bring in people, not just from the west end.”

The event is also a fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds raised from the $2 admission fee will be donated to the Sister Annata Brockman School for the construction of a new playground.

As for the future of the west-end Mommy Expo, the trio of mompreneaurs hopes to see a good turnout and lots of smiling faces. “We’re just trying to make it a fun family event for people to come to and support local businesses,” Hillaby said.

“We have no real expectations of how it’s going to go,” Anderson added. “We’d love for it to be successful, we’d love for X amount of people to come through the doors and buy from the vendors. But in the end, we just want it to be successful and to have a good day all around for the vendors, have them leave happy and have the guests leave happy.”

The West Edmonton Christian Assembly is located at 6315 199 St.