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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Tend-A-Tot: Oakland Township mother, grandmother invents baby carrier with 5 other uses

Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010

Elizabeth VouVakis of Oakland Township, a mother of five and a grandmother to 10, says that she can identify with today’s hard-working moms and their fast-paced lifestyles. Throughout her 48 years of child care, she says finding ways to simplify life on-the-go with a baby became a necessity.

And so, as the adage goes —necessity is the mother of invention — VouVakis deigned the first prototype for Tend-A-Tot, a six-in-one child care product that works as a diaper bag, a baby carrier, a portable chair, an umbrella stroller[up-grade] , a shopping cart cover and a highchair cover.

Her prototype, designed in an effort to help with her first grandchild, served as a diaper bag and doubled as a portable highchair. Later, additional features were added to the product as more and more grandchildren arrived.

VouVakis began thinking about marketing her product to the public after being asked by a torrent of friends, family and curious strangers on the street where they could order their own Tend-A-Tot. She vowed to share her creation with moms on the move who need help simplifying day-to-day childcare.

With an overwhelming positive response to her product, VouVakis sold her home and founded Punim Products LLC, and began marketing her creation. In 2008, VouVakis contracted a Michigan-based sewer to help produce her product and also began developing a website.

Tend-A-Tot currently is offered in three different lines — elite, urban and premiere — to help fit each individual parent’s needs. The product has been awarded The New Parents Guide Seal of Approval. The company also accepts custom and wholesale orders. For more information, visit www.tendatot.com or call 248-640-5275.