For Immediate Release

November, 2006

FOUR WASHINGTON WOMEN TURN LUNCH-TIME CHAT

INTO A PROMISING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

WASHINGTON - Four Washington-area women have turned a simple lunchtime conversation about future plans into a new business offering elegant pet bowls and other products for discerning pet owners and their favorite four-legged friends.

The creative seeds for Babu Inc. were sewn over lunch in a downtown Washington restaurant during the summer of 2005; eighteen months later, the company's website, www.babuforpets.com, opened for business.  At the time the business plans were being brainstormed, all four partners were co-workers in the same downtown office.

The four partners are Julia Kramer of North Arlington, an author and management consultant, who is president of the company; Barbara S. Haugen, vice president of Babu, a public policy expert and former White House aide who lives in the District; Alison Bowman, treasurer of Babu, who is a business, sales and marketing expert from Alexandria; and Cheryl Arvidson of Falls Church, secretary of Babu and a journalist and corporate communications specialist.

While they chatted over lunch about how to make their future hopes and dreams come true, they agreed that it would be wonderful to find a business opportunity that would be fun and rewarding and also would fill an unmet market niche.

"Before long, we started talking about our pets, and we realized the one thing none of us had was an attractive, high-quality bowl for our pets' food and water," said Kramer. "We realized that you see a lot bowls that are 'joke' gift items with silly phrases or bowls that are too colorful or too casual to be on display during a formal dinner, a cocktail party or a special occasion."

"The idea of an elegant, simple product that would go in a formal setting was something we could all relate to," said Haugen. "We realized we all take very special care of our pets, watch their diets closely and lavish them with love. Why not have a pet bowl that reflects that love and fits in well with the style and décor of our homes?"

The first challenge was to find a name for the business. After much back and forth, the women settled on Babu, standing for "Blondes and Brunettes Unite" since there are two of each among the partners. Then it was on to identifying the right products and the right designs for the Babu line, which includes items for owners of both dogs and cats - and several products that can be used by people, too.

In addition to the original concept of large and small Babu pet bowls with custom designs for cats, kittens, dogs and puppies, the product line also includes air-tight canisters that can be used for pet food or treats, and pet can lids for dogs and cats carrying the distinctive Babu designs.

The products also include two types of specialty pet food storage containers. "Babuware" is a line of storage containers with cat and dog designs on top to easily distinguish pet meals from family leftovers in the refrigerator. And Babu's exclusive "ChillyChow" line consists of  plastic containers with decorative gel lids that can be frozen and used to keep dog or cat food cold if the pets and their families are on the go.

"The Babu products are designed for pets and pet lovers, but they also have great human uses," said Kramer. "The small Babu bowls are a perfect for a baby bowl or a cereal bowl for a toddler. The canisters make great cookie jars, and the ChillyChow containers are wonderful for school lunches because they keep a child's sandwich fresh and cold."

"We are encouraged by initial customer response to our products and are already planning our next steps to expand the Babu product line," said Bowman. "Our goal is to have our customers and their precious pets get as much pleasure from the Babu products as we have received from creating them."

Babu china products are white with designs in black, blue or green, while Babuware storage containers are clear plastic with blue lids.  The ChillyChow dog line has a blue decorated lid, and the ChillyChow cat line has a decorated green lid. The pet lids are white with blue designs. All Babu products are certified food safe for pets and humans.

For more information on BABU or to schedule an interview with BABU principals, please contact Cheryl Arvidson at info@babuforpets.com.

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