Owners: Starbuck and Lori Laney

What is it? Little Star Lane is a baby and toddler clothing store in the Edgewood section of Homewood. The shop carries a number of brands, including Zutano’s brightly-colored, patterned tops, bottoms and dresses; Atlanta’s Alternative Apparel, a line that offers soft baby T’s in fun patterns like houndstooth and argyle; Haba toys; and the store’s own line of screen printed onesies and T-shirts.

History: With Starbuck’s background in engineering and Lori’s in graphic design, owning a children’s clothing store was not an obvious choice. But the stress of his work led the couple to consider opening their own business. “I guess you can’t really plan on what you end up doing,” Starbuck Laney says. After taking a class, they began screen printing T-shirts and opened Metro Three, a T-shirt shop for guys, gals and kids in New Orleans. That store has received a great deal of press; its “Make Leevees, Not War” shirts have showed up on The Real World: Denver, in Essence magazine, on Natalie Portman on The Daily Show, in the New York Times and other publications. The Laneys moved to Birmingham about a year ago in an effort to live closer to grandparents. Little Star Lane opened on Feb. 1. Neighborhood living: As they did in New Orleans, the Laneys are able to walk to work at Little Star Lane.

What makes it unique? “We want to be colorful, not just pink and blue,” Laney says. That attitude is on display in the store, which is awash with brightly colored, fun clothing and accessories. Their line, Little Star Lane, is also a unique selling point. “You can only get it here,” Laney says. “Each piece is one-of-a-kind, hand-made.” The Laneys’ New Orleans shop sells many T-shirts specific to New Orleans neighborhoods. They intend to do the same in Birmingham and have already started with Homewood T’s.

A day in the life: “I get to talk about Owen and Evan” — his two sons — ”all day long,” Laney says. Owen, the oldest, even accompanies dad to work on occasion. “He loves running around and talking to other babies,” Laney says, and some of those babies (and their parents) have already become repeat customers.

Staff size: Three

What’s ahead: “Right now we’re just really happy,” he explains. Expansion could become a future goal, but at this point the Laneys are satisfied with the 4-month-old store.  “We really wanted the neighborhood store,” Laney says. “It’s much more personal that way.”

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