Baby Business Boom

Convenience stores such as 7-Eleven have thrived in recent years as two-income families have proven willing to pay a premium to save time. Bundle of Convenience, a 3-month-old Los Angeles company, is trying to capitalize on the same idea by offering home delivery of baby supplies.

Mothers fill out a form giving the age, size and other details of their child. The company then prepares and delivers biweekly packages of baby wipes, infant formula, baby shampoo--even disposable diapers and miniature plastic bags for discarding used diapers. The minimum delivery is usually $50, but one mother with a 2-month-old and a 2 1/2-year-old took deliveries costing $185 every two weeks, Vice President Mark D. Seigel said. The company makes about 50 deliveries a week from San Fernando Valley and Toluca Lake to Malibu and the Hollywood Hills, he said.

Seigel, the father of children 5 and 7, said he spends almost as much time counseling first-time mothers over the phone as he does running the business. “They know how to run a career, but they don’t know how to warm a bottle.”