A family business in Bowmanville is expanding.

It’s an exciting time for the James family. Shane and Marianne James have been selling children’s hats exclusively online and at trade shows for the past two years.

This Saturday, they’ll be opening their own brick-and-mortar storefront, while also giving back to the local Neonatal ICU at Lakeridge Health.

“It’s exciting,” said Marianne. “What makes it great is we can actually have this place we can see and talk to our customers.”

The business, called Little Buck, specializes in hats, with a particular focus that was inspired by their three-year-old son, Colton.

“With Colton having a small head size, it was very hard to find a hat that didn’t have a stretchy back or didn’t have cartoons on it,” said Shane.

“We can’t find one here, so let’s go for it.”

They launched as an online store first, selling hats for kids, but eventually realized more people wanted their products and added hats adults, too, among a few other items.

The business boomed so much, in fact, they were forced to find an alternate way of doing things.

“Everything was being done at home,” said Shane. “You can look at our living room, hallways, the garage, the basement — everywhere you look, it’s stuff for Little Buck.”

While things are good now, the road to this point involved a lot of heartache for the James family. Their little guy, Colton, was born prematurely, arriving two months earlier than expected.

“The baby was actually healthy, but my wife wasn’t,” said James, reflecting on the challenging time for his family.

“My wife wasn’t able to hold her baby for 24 hours, so it was tough.”

Colton had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, at Lakeridge Health for 28 days. It was a difficult experience for the family.

“He was born at three pounds, so smaller than average,” said Marianne. “But overall, he was doing really well and they took good care of me.”

After that experience, they knew they wanted to give back while creating a hat that fit little Colton’s head and those of toddlers all over. Since starting the business, they have been making donations to the NICU on a regular basis.

“We looked at each other and we were like, ‘this is what we want to do.’ We want to create awareness and we have to do something that is bigger than us,” said Shane.

“After our experience there, we knew how important it was to invest back into somewhere where we had that type of experience,” added Marianne.

In the two years since the business started, even before moving into their new store, they have already donated more than $10,000 — a welcome helping hand, according to officials with Lakeridge Health.

“With the generous support of community members, like the James family, we are able to offer babies born in Durham Region the safest and highest quality of care,” said a statement from the health care facility.

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