Each week, the Free Press features a business who has worked with the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center, a nonprofit offering classes and free consulting for small businesses.

At Kairos, a children's boutique at 129 S. Sixth St., children can sit at a child-size vintage kitchen table and have a pretend tea party while adults shop for cute kids' clothes and other accessories for babies and young children.

Carla and Anthony Bruton opened Kairos about three years ago. The shop carries some locally made designed and sewn children's clothing, as well as other items you probably won't find elsewhere in town.

One such item is the Moby baby carrier — a long piece of ultra soft cotton that wraps and ties a baby onto the body of the adult for a hands-free baby carrier.

“Those have been a huge hit,” said Carla Bruton.

The shop carries unique clothing and hats made by local seamstress Ramona Danso, who has her own “handmade children's goodies” business called Soil.etsy.com.

“I was a big fan of Ramona's,” Bruton said. “I used to buy some of the clothes from Pollux — she had adult clothes there.”

When Bruton opened her own shop Danso offered to supply her with children's clothing.

“I was so excited to have her stuff in here. She designs and sews them herself. She uses a lot of vintage fabric which is unique,” Bruton said.

You'll also find hats and mittens made from handspun yarn by Matney Paine, of Glenwood Springs, and nursing covers for the breastfeeding mother by Christina Frei.

Another cottage industry, Knottie Tie, provides custom neck ties for little tykes. Owners Paula Meisner and Sheilah Bottinelli make the child-size neck ties from home.

Kairos carries clothing from Dutch and New Zealand companies as well.

Kairos also sells lullaby CDs — renditions of rock music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Nine Inch Nails.

Bruton, 35, wanted a business downtown and settled on a children's boutique because there wasn't anything else like it in town, she said.

“I have 10 nieces and nephews and whenever I looked for something for them there really wasn't anywhere to go,” Bruton said.

Being located off Main Street doesn't garner the same amount of walk-by traffic as Main, and yet, “I love being that place that people look for,” she said. “It was a rough start, but more and more people are finding me. I have a lot of return customers.”

Their downtown neighbors are supportive. Mike and Karin Allan of Toys for the Fun of It, 519 Main St., dedicate one of their store windows to Kairos with an arrow pointing east toward the shop.

Pollux and other Main Street shops also send people to Kairos.

And when it's slow? You'll find Bruton and other shopkeepers in the Sixth Street block between Colorado Avenue and Main Street visiting one another or meeting for coffee outside on the sidewalk on warm days.

“We have our own little family in this building,” Bruton said.

Luckily for Bruton one of her customers was Chris Redden, the mother of two young boys and executive director of the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center.

The Incubator is a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost business classes and free consulting to new and expanding Mesa County businesses.

“I'd never taken a business class,” Bruton said. “They helped me with my financials. They've looked at my books and pointed me in the right direction on what classes to take.”

Bruton said she occasionally drops in at the Incubator's informal Open Coffee Club held the last Friday of every month, 10 a.m. to noon, at Coffee Muggers, 644 Main St. It is where people come to talk about their business ideas.

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday the Open Coffee Club will be held today, Nov. 25 from 10 a.m. to noon.

“I'm always telling people to go to them beforehand — I wish I had. It would have helped me a lot,” Bruton said.

Kairos is the shop with the prams parked outside.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.