Small Retailer Makes a Big Impact on ABC's #1 Hit 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005

Columbia, MD (PRWEB) December 5, 2005

A desire to help and the ability to pull together dozens of juvenile products manufacturers, made it possible for Baby Outfitters, a 1,400 square foot boutique with five employees, to play an important role in Sunday, December 4's episode of ABC’s hit show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Owned by two moms who connected through their passion for discovering the best juvenile products on the market, Baby Outfitters secured more than $15,000 in donations and one-of-a-kind items for a newly widowed father of three small children in Youngstown, Ohio and Baby Outfitters co-owner Kit Orloff traveled to Ohio to assemble and install the products personally. Kit’s commitment to making sure the home was safe for the family’s three young girls earned her the nickname “Safety Girl” from the show’s crew and several minutes on camera with America's favorite designer Ty Pennington. Baby Outfitters’ unprecedented donation of juvenile products also garnered the retailer a spot in the episode’s coveted rolling end credits.

Jeff Novak, a 29-year-old Special Education teacher, and his three girls (Zoey 6, Harley 2 and Presley 7 months) lost their wife and mother in May when Jackie Novak died of a pulmonary embolism just two weeks after giving birth to Presley. The Novak family’s story hit close to home for Kit Orloff. She lost her husband to cancer when she was 29 years old and her daughter was only four. Kit and her partner Michelle Boucher were originally asked if Baby Outfitters would consider donating one of its exclusive strollers to the family, but upon learning the family’s story they immediately agreed to do much more.

Although the Novak house was bombarded with problems, unquestionably the biggest challenge for Jeff Novak was suddenly becoming a single parent of three little girls. Experts in the juvenile products industry, Kit and Michelle knew exactly what Jeff needed to make life a little easier. Baby Outfitters provided and installed the safety products necessary to make the Novak’s new home kid-friendly and Baby Outfitters and its vendor partners provided Jeff with products to help make his life as a single parent more manageable. So in addition to returning to a brand new home on October 18, Jeff Novak returned to find his home filled with Kit and Michelle’s favorite stress-reducing baby goods, such as the Podee Hands-Free Bottle, which Kit and Michelle refer to as “the product that started it all” and Baby Outfitters’ exclusive All Terrain Stroller by Valco, which they outfitted with a jump seat and ride along board for big sisters Harley and Zoey.

Kit and Michelle gave Jeff Novak products from the store’s inventory and they encouraged manufacturers Baby Outfitters’ carries to donate everything from safety products to keepsake gifts. “We carry only the best products on the market and secured the very best available for the Novaks,” said Kit. In addition to the goods for dad, many special, one-of-a-kind items were given to his girls.

Happy just to be able to help the Novaks, Kit was given the surprise of her lifetime when the producers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition invited her to appear on camera with Ty Pennington to explain the products she installed and ABC agreed to include Baby Outfitters in the show’s end credits in recognition of Baby Outfitters’ contribution to the episode.

“Baby Outfitters has been a labor of love for us since we started selling products out of our living rooms four years ago. It’s great to know that that all of our hard work made it possible for us to contribute to this episode. We knew exactly what the Novak family needed and who to ask to get the products donated. Michelle and I are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of one of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s remodels. It’s not often that you get to participate in something on that level of greatness,” said Kit.

Created in 2002, Baby Outfitters strives to bring the safest, most usable, comfortable, beautiful, luxurious and practical products on the market to moms and dads on the go. All of the products carried in the store are personally tested by Kit, Michelle or one of their “Mommy Testers.” All of the products the Novak family received are available online at http://www.baby-outfitters.com. Baby Outfitters 1,400 square foot baby boutique is located at 6490 Dobbin Road in Columbia, Maryland.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It’s executive-produced by Tom Forman and co-executive produced by Denise Cramsey.

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