Retail

If your family is at all like ours, you spend a lot of time shopping at one of the three Trader Joes stores in Marin. Their combination of good value, great service, offbeat atmosphere, and an eclectic selection of gourmet products keeps us going back. And, let's not forget the family-friendly aspects of the store—mini-shopper carts, free stickers, and rewards for finding Jojo the pony (in the Novato store) help keep children occupied and busy during those grocery shopping trips.

But what's the story behind Trader Joes? Did you know it's owned by a secretive German company? Where do all those private-label products they stock come from? How come many of their products—cheese, for example—are much less expensive than at other grocery stores?

Fortune Magazine recently took a look "Inside the Secret World of Trader Joes", and examines the history of the store, how it's run, and how it finagles those great deals.

Discover some of the finest Italian children's literature available at the third annual Festa del Libro, a children’s Italian book fair extravaganza that takes place Saturday and Sunday, August 29 and 30 at Book Passage in Corte Madera, and September 5 and 6 at Book Passage's second location in San Francisco's Ferry Building. Both events run from 10 am to 6 pm. Festa del Libro is also taking place this year in San Jose, during the Italian American Festa at Little Italy Kids School, noon to 6 pm, August 28 and 29. Story time, in Italian, takes place at the Corte Madera location at 11 am and 4 pm on both August 28 and 29.

Over 400 illustrated children’s books from distinguished publishers will be on hand direct from Italy. With vivid illustrations and trademark Italian creativity. the selection on hand is ideal for children 0–10 and beginning Italian language students of all ages. If your child or anyone else in your family is learning Italian or is interested in Italian culture this is an event not to be missed! This year's event features additional multimedia materials, as well as works from smaller specialty publishers that are difficult to find even in Italy.

Reducing waste and promoting environmental resposibility in their children is a priority with many parents. One way to help with this is to use a product like Fabkins, cool reusable cloth napkins for kids that are perfect for a child's lunchbox and at-home use, too. Fabkins were created and designed by Marin mompreneurs Joyce Raffo and Paige Rodgers. (We interviewed Joyce and Paige in 2008 about their product and business; you can read that article here.)

Useful as both napkins and placemats, Fabkins encourage good table manners, and help reduce waste by eliminating the need to use paper napkins both with school lunches and meals at home. They are made of 100% certified organic cotton, and embroidered with fun designs in themes ranging from Prima Ballerina and African Safari to Xtreme Sports and Beach Bound. Fabkins retails for $10.95 for a starter set of two organic napkins, or $19.95 for a set of four, and can be purchased at numerous retail locations throughout the Bay Area or online at www.fabkins.com. Marin Mommies readers who order online can take 20% off their Fabkins purchase with the coupon code MM20 through August 31.

Last week we had a chance to try out the restaurant Brick & Bottle, which recently opened in Corte Madera in the spot Izzy's once occupied. At the helm of Brick & Bottle is acclaimed chef and Marin resident Scott Howard. Locals may remember his previous efforts at the highly regarded Fork in San Anselmo, and Scott Howard in the city. Brick & Bottle offers what it terms "simple California cooking" using super fresh local ingredients (no processed or frozen foods here) in a warm, family-friendly setting.

The staff at Brick & Bottle really go out of their way to make families welcome, although the restaurant is elegant enough to make a great "date night" spot as well. On this trip, we took the children along.

Upon arrival our kids were given coloring sheets and crayons, and we were seated in the cozy (but somewhat dark) main dining room. We all got a look at the open kitchen on the way to our table, with special attention paid to the wood-burning pizza oven. The kids were also given temporary tattoos with the restaurant's logo, which made them happy, as did the Shirley Temples that we let them get in lieu of the normal milk or water. These are all-natural, concocted with house-made grenadine and seltzer and devoid of any corn syrup. Grown ups can partake of numerous local wines, including wines on tap, and beers, if they're so inclined. We both got pints of Kent Lake Kölsch from Fairfax's Iron Springs Brewery.

I noticed today that Sweet Potatoes–the stylish kids' clothing store in downtown Novato—is having a $5 summer sale. Yes, all their summer clothing items are only $5 each! Sweet Potatoes offers clothing for newborns to size 6 for boys and girls. Go check it out—they have a lot of super cute things (especially in newborn to infant sizes).

Sweet Potatoes is located at 857 Grant Avenue in downtown Novato. For more info, call (415) 898-8234. Happy shopping!

Send your kids back to school with eco-friendly, non-toxic lunch kits from Kids Konserve! Through August 31, 2010, Kids Konserve is offering our readers 15% off their orders using the coupon code school.

Kids Konserve offers some great products to help make school lunches greener, cleaner, and waste-free:

Congratulations to Karen R., winner of our 2010 back-to-school BusyBodyBook giveaway!

School's about to start and getting organized both for yourself and the kids is a must. Our favorite way to get organized is with the BusyBodyBook! The BusyBodyBook is a stylish and easy-to-use family organizer designed specifically for families. It allows you to keep track of the entire family's schedules at a glance, and it's something I can't live without. BusyBodyBooks are available for both 2010–2011 school year (August 2010–August 2011) and traditional January–December, 2010 calendar year versions. This year, they have some really new cool designs.

To help you get organized, we're giving away a free BusyBodyBook to a lucky Marin Mommies reader! Send an e-mail with BUSYBODYBOOK in the subject line to contests@marinmommies.com by midnight (Pacific time) this Friday, August 6, 2010 One winner will be selected at random, and we'll announce the winner on Saturday, August 7. Good luck!

We asked Marin Kids & Maternity Consignment's Melissa Hereford to tell us a little about the back-to-school bargains that can be found at their retail store on West Francisco Boulevard in San Rafael. They try to live up their motto, "Saving the planet, one outfit at a time" by offering a great selection of gently used (or "new-to-you") children's apparel and more, much of it perfect for back-to-school! Marin Kids & Maternity Consignment is also a great place to sell your old children's clothing and maternity wear. They're located at 814 Francisco Boulevard West and open Wednesday–Sunday, 10 am–6 pm. Visit them online at www.marinkidsconsignment.com.