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In February, after 12 years in a downtown La Jolla, Calif., storefront, Brett and Kimberly Buffington packed up their children’s clothing boutique, Eurochild LLC, and moved it into their home.

“Business just stopped on a dime” 18 months ago, Mr. Buffington says, and he and his wife were unable to renegotiate their $7,000-a-month rent.

Working at home allows the couple to save $12,000 a month in rent and other overhead costs and focus on revamping Eurochild’s Web site to attract new customers. “You don’t have overhead, you don’t have to manage employees, you don’t have to keep the store clean — all the stuff that comes along with running a retail business,” Mr. Buffington says.

But as more small businesses around the country ditch their storefronts and offices to cut expenses during the recession, they’re encountering new hurdles. Many of them have to deal with home-business zoning ordinances and take on new insurance and marketing costs. The Buffingtons, for example, faced $1,200 a year for home-based-business commercial insurance, as well as an expanded online marketing budget.

Eurochild LLC

Kimberly and Brett Buffington closed their La Jolla, Calif., storefront in February to run Eurochild LLC out of their home to cut costs.

Business owners also confront the challenge of making it appear to loyal customers that nothing significant has changed. “Clearly, the biggest mistake is having a huge drop in customer base,” says Larry Cox, associate professor of entrepreneurship at the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

“You have to have a sense by talking to customers of how attached they are to the locations,” he says. “Will they continue to do business with you with a different model?”

Victoria Rogers of Kingston, N.J., closed her six-year-old ballet-apparel store across from the Princeton University campus last year. Her rent had risen over the years from $3,800 a month when she opened the store to $5,000 a month, and the slack economy was taking a toll. “You can’t sell enough ballet shoes to justify that kind of rent,” she says.

Ms. Rogers was set to reopen her business, Giselle Dancewear LLC, in her home last December, after winning approval from the local zoning board. She had spent a year with planners, engineers and lawyers preparing for the move and had bought a house for $500,000 using her retirement savings. But the Kingston Initiative, a community advocacy group, appealed the zoning ruling, leading town officials to reverse the board’s decision.

Zoning laws vary, but home-based businesses generally operate under the radar unless someone files a complaint. In this case, Karen Linder of the Kingston Initiative argues that Ms. Rogers’s home store violated the master zoning plan of a historic area. The Initiative, she says, was wary that the home-based business would set a dangerous precedent that would make it easier for other commercial businesses to move in.

“It was small-minded,” responds Ms. Rogers. But she recently got a permit to sell pointe shoes, by appointment only, at her home. In addition, the American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, one of her major customers, has allowed her to set up a little store in its lobby.

Billy Carmen, president of Wizard Industries Inc., a catalog-based specialty-tools company, looked for a town friendly to home-based businesses when he moved recently. The economic crunch led him to shed an office-and-warehouse space he had leased in a Los Angeles industrial complex since 2000 and trim his 12 employees to just him and his wife.

Mr. Carmen settled on Sebastopol, Calif. The town lets him put a business sign outside his new home. And he’s able to get packages picked up from his house, rather than having to drive to a nearby mailing facility to drop them off.

When small businesses move home, many of them are returning to their roots. Katheryn Haro co-founded Rutledge Haro Design Inc. in 2000 in the San Diego home of her business partner, Mary Rutledge. When business boomed, they moved the interior-decorating company to a commercial space downtown, eventually expanding to eight employees and $4 million in annual revenue.

But business has deteriorated over the past 18 months as clients have canceled 10 contracts. Three months ago, Haro Design laid off its staff, put the downtown office up for lease and moved back to Ms. Rutledge’s home. They hope that within a year a turnaround will allow them to return to the office space. “We’re just hunkering down,” Ms. Haro says. “But if nothing comes in, this year’s going to be a bad year.”

Despite the move back home, slumping sales have driven EuroChild’s Mr. Buffington to take a second job coaching high school tennis. To keep past customers loyal, he’s also offering free local delivery.

The Buffingtons have also had to rethink some of the basic dynamics of their business. “Before, we could put a sign with ’sale’ on it outside our door, and it would drive traffic directly into our front door,” Mr. Buffington says. “Now, we place ads on other Web sites, and send our email campaigns, and wish on a star that people will click through.”

Write to Raymund Flandez at raymund.flandez@wsj.com

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Everything you could possibly need for your little baby girl is at Eurochild. We carry a variety of designer baby girl clothes that will be perfect for any occasion, whether it be casual or festive. We carry a large array of designers that include, Petit Bateau, Cakewalk, Zutano, Diesel, Catamini, Clayeux, Baby Nay, Beetle Juice, Roxy, and much much more.  

So if you are looking for a baby girl dress, baby girl swimsuit, baby girl sundress, baby girl jacket, baby girl jeans, baby girl pants, baby girl shirt, and baby girl onsies, Eurochild is the place to go. As your baby girl grows, so will her wardrobe, and making sure that it is trendy, comfortable, unique, and cute, will be easy to do if you stop by our San Diego location or browse our online store.

Eurochild’s End Of Year Clearance Sale has already started. Save 50% and more now at eurochild’s sale rack. You can shop by exact size and gender and save on Baby,Kids and Teen Clothing, Shoes and Gifts on clearance sale.

You can also find incredible deals on Diesel kids designer clothing for baby, boys and girls on sale at 50% Off.

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And if you are looking for a baby shower gift on sale, toddler boys or girl gift on sale or teen boy or girl gift on sale look no further. Selected Eurochild gifts for all ages are currently on clearance sale!

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Ranging in sizes from newborn to the beginning stages of a toddler, you are sure to find just what you are looking for in Children Shoes. You can find the perfect infant shoe that will tie together your baby girl or baby boy’s outfit just right! Eurochilds baby shoes are ideal for any season, summer, fall, winter, or spring, we’ve got it. Everything from adorable baby girl sandals and baby boy sandals to comfortable baby boy and girl sneakers, you can find it at Eurochild. 

Eurochild carries every accessory your little girl would both need and want and hats are no exception. With a variety of styles and colors, you can find a baby girl hat this both functional and fashionable. Not only do we carry baby girl hats for the summer time, we also carry the basics, such as beanies to keep your little baby girls head warm in the cold months or baby girl beanies to wear when they head home from the hospital. 

At Eurochild you will find a variety of educational and enjoyable newborn to 2 years age appropriate books for your little baby girl or baby boy. You can find the collection of Disney books, that introduce your little girl and baby boy to the classic fairytales, or can find baby girl books and baby boy books that are great learning tools, whether you are looking to learn the alphabet, numbers or colors, we will have it at Eurochild.

Baby Nay is a line of  little girl clothing that is made from the highest quality of fabrics and crafted with the finest detail. Every little girl should have a Baby Nay outfit or piece in their closet. With bright, vibrant colors and fun floral patterns, your little girl will have the most adorable outfit. Baby Nay girls clothing carries everything from tops, pants, sweaters, dresses, and much more.

Ranging in sizes from newborn to toddler, Baby Nay is a infant girls  and toddler girls clothing brand that will be an essential throughout every little girls childhood. So whether you are looking for a Baby Nay Girls Dress or Baby Nay Girls shirt, search no further than Eurochild Childrens clothing store in La Jolla California or shop online at www.eurochild.com.

Everything you could possibly need for your little baby girl is at Eurochild. We carry a variety of designer baby girl clothes that will be perfect for any occasion, whether it be casual or festive. We carry a large array of designers that include, Petit Bateau, Cakewalk, Zutano, Diesel, Catamini, Clayeux, Baby Nay, Beetle Juice, Roxy, and much much more.  

So if you are looking for a baby girl dress, baby girl swimsuit, baby girl sundress, baby girl jacket, baby girl jeans, baby girl pants, baby girl shirt, and baby girl onsies, Eurochild is the place to go. As your baby girl grows, so will her wardrobe, and making sure that it is trendy, comfortable, unique, and cute, will be easy to do if you stop by our San Diego location or browse our online store.